Published January 2012 in the book Migration in the 21st Century: Political Economy and Ethnography. An earlier version of this chapter was published in 2008 as Constructing a Virtual Wall: Race and Citizenship in U.S.-Mexico Border Policing, in the Journal of The Southwest.
Introduction
This chapter examines the core idea that the US-Mexico border can be perfectly controlled and sealed off from all harm. It locates this idea in the historical and contemporary dynamics of race and citizenship, attending to those phenomena in the context of ideologies, politics, and economics of the United States in its relationship to Mexican working people. Taking a political-economy perspective, but not one [sic] a reductive one, I explore how transnational migration through the US-Mexico border manifests profound contradictions emerging from capitalism seen as a fully socio-cultural phenomenon, including but also extending beyond obvious economic interests.
This essay will explore the contradictions that manifest from US-Mexico border migration and politics and capitalism. Border policies have been largely ineffective and cause much suffering.
Attempts at a Perfect Border Wall
- What is a “perfect border wall”?
- A perfect border wall serves as a filter which effectively and efficiently stops undesirable traffic (undocumented workers, terrorists, drugs and drug dealers, etc.), while allowing the free and efficient traffic of those with legitimate interests, mostly those with economic or social influence. The perfect border wall is technologically sophisticated, employing accurate and efficient tech. The perfect border wall serves as an ideological tool, utilized for political ends. The perfect border wall is a symbolic fiction, serving to make people feel safer while not actually performing that function well.
- Why a “perfect” border wall?
- A “perfect” border wall serves as an idealized vision, a symbol for protection and order. However, it misses the real complexities and root causes of migration such as socio-economic factors.
The Idea of a Perfect Border Wall
- What is the driving force behind a perfect border wall?
- The driving force behind a perfect border wall is a combination of socio-political motivations including nationalism, security concerns, and a response to domestic fears about job competition and cultural change. It seems to serve as a useful, symbolic distraction for a complex problem. Since a perfect border wall is impossible, politicians and elites can use it as a way to politically serve themselves and manipulate their bases, particularly inciting fear in xenophobic constituents.
- Who does the perfect border wall keep in and out?
- The perfect border wall should keep out terrorists, drug dealers, and other undesirable people whom loom in the imaginations of a xenophobic American public. The perfect border wall is meant to keep in American citizens while maintaining internal security.
Why Build a Perfect Wall?
- What is the motivation behind building a perfect border wall?
- The perfect border wall has many competing motivations. Xenophobic American public want to reinforce national identity and keep out foreigners. The Homeland Security industrial complex wants to profit off of building up and maintaining a perfect border wall. American business interests want to create a border wall that protects their economic interests, allowing seamless international trade and cheap labor.