The Mexican-American Border

A small history of some of the main things that have happened between Mexico and the United States relating to the border. (Monteagudo, 2015)

• 1846: Mexican-American War begins
• 1848: Postwar Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo sets international boundary line 3 miles south of San Diego Bay
• 1871: First U.S. customs inspectors assigned to border
• 1924: U.S. Border Patrol established
• 1954: U.S. rounds up and deports more than 1 million immigrants to Mexico
• 1955: Chain-link fence separates San Ysidro from Tijuana
• 1990: U.S., California and Mexico sign agreement for construction of new Tijuana sewage treatment plant; Border Patrol erects 14-mile solid steel barrier near San Diego
• 1994: Presidential candidate Luis Donaldo Colosio assassinated in Tijuana; NAFTA takes effect; Operation Gatekeeper launched
• 1995: SENTRI trusted-traveler verification program begins
• 1996: Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act authorizes construction of a 14-mile, triple-layered fence near San Diego
• 2006: Secure Fence Act calls for 700 miles of border fencing

This picture is the second of three borders that divide both countries. In order to see this fencing, I had to place my lease in between the first border's pillars. The first border that is seen from the Mexican side is the one I added in the previous slide.

The meaning of the border from the American perspective:

According to Mazza (2018), the border between Mexico and the United States has been increasing their number of border security since 1986. He also said that deportation has increased drastically for illegal workers and that in 2006, the United States wanted to build about 700 ft of fencing and wall in order to keep dividing both countries with more man made materials. These allocations relate to the picture on the right because before, the wall used to be short and the border patrol car pictured was never in the original plan.

I took this picture in the Las Americas Outlet (San Ysidro, USA). The car in the picture is a border patrol office making sure that no one tries to jump the border and get lost in the mall's crowd. The United States has been increasing the number of Border Patrol officers they have over the past years but in 2016, the Trump administration increased the number drastically.

The United States uses the border they created as a form of control and power. Physical control over Mexico in a figuratively and emotional way, helps them prove themselves to other countries that they can do whatever they want in order to "keep their people safe". What I mean with this is that they do not care what they do to others in order to prove that they are the best. The politicians and people in power only want to prove to others that they can protect their people from other countries but this sentence is hypocritical because their citizens are being murdered by their own people. As a Mexican-American person who lives really close to the border and who used to cross it on a daily basis for 3 years, I have personally experienced the negative sides of them trying to keep US citizens safe. Whenever I used to cross the border alone or with another US citizen, everything was fine. On the other hand, many times when I crossed the border with my parents, who are Mexican and have a visa, the racist and diminished comments were unimaginable.

The meaning of this border from the Mexican perspective:

For many people, this picture means nothing, but for someone who knows the meaning behind each of those crosses it is a different story.

Each cross represents a person who lost their life trying to cross illegally to the United States in order to give their family a better life. "Latinos say achieving the American dream isn’t easy. Only about half (51%) said they had achieved it so far, and about three-quarters (74%) said achieving the dream today is hard for people like them." (Lopez, Gonzalez-Barrera, & Krogstad, 2020) When the border was formally created and the lands between both countries were divided, many families were split apart forcing them to try and get together one way or another. Because of all the extra border patrol that has been added since 2006, achieving not only the American Dream but surviving the trip from Mexico to the US has become harder as the years pass by.

When Trump became president of the United States, this wall was torn down and a taller and stronger one was built instead. This wasn't easy on any of the families that had a cross there. That cross was the only thing they had left of their family member who died trying to give them a better future.

The San Ysidro Port of Entry (Norm facilitator)

Snibbe (2020) stated that the US government reported that the busiest, most crossed and most economically important port of entry between Mexico and the United States is the San Ysidro port of entry. Regardless of the number of new and almost impossible rules that have been implemented, people still do the long lines in order to travel between both countries.

This port of entry is one of the busiest and most crossed land ports of entry in the world. Because of this, many norms and rules have been implemented. Both the pedestrian and car lanes are divided into three groups: SENTRI, Ready Lane and All traffic.

• SENTRI: is the fastest out of the three. In order to have a SENTRI/GLOBAL ENTRY the FBI and the US Homeland Security have to clear you.

• Ready Lane; This is the middle of both in waiting time and in restrictions. In order to use the Lady Lane, you need to either have a passport card, SENTRI, and Enhanced Driver license or a PRC. (U.S. CBP, 2020)

• All Traffic: Anyone who is a U.S. citizen can cross through here. The less documentation you have, the harder it will be to return but it is possible.

Because of all the regulations put into place, all the CBP officers are mandated to implement the norms created by HomeLand Security and the CBP. If someone violates one of the norms previously established, a debate regarding the norm violated could be created in order to figure out the punishment to whoever violates the law and rules.

"There are dreams on this side too" (Beliefs facilitator)

The picture of the right used to be part of the wall that was near the Tijuana airport. In 2016, this border was taken down and a taller one was built as a replacement.

This used to be a facilitator for Mexican people to remember that if they truly want something, they have to fight for it. Even though this was not seen the same way from many US citizens, the people who were open minded also saw it as something that helped them believe in themselves. This wall was a great form of debate for someone's beliefs and what they were willing to do to move forward and have a better future.

I am one of the lucky ones. I do not have to worry about what would happen if ICE came to where I am and asked for my papers. I am one of the lucky ones who was given the opportunity to have double nationality. I am one of the lucky ones whose parents have visas to come to the United States. Unfortunately, not everyone I know can say the same.

The negative side of a materialized border

This picture is the border that runs from one coast to the other from the Mexican point of view. This border was created by humans who did not take into consideration what they were harming on their way. According to Villareal et al. (2014), the human made border passes through several rare, threatened, protected or endangered species. After this border was created, many species have been suffering to the point that some are in danger to becoming extinct.

Because the political power is more important to many people than protecting species who are about to become extinct, the border has not been moved a few meters in order to let the species become one again.

Another way how the creation of this border has harmed the environment surrounding it, is by allowing cars to pass by without taking into consideration the long term effects. Villarreal et al. (2014) reported that some of the species that are divided by the border are also disturbed by cars and people. He also said that these areas are being used by the Marine Corps as training sites and because of the heavy weights and heavy traffic they create, not only the habitats but also the flora and fauna are being destroyed and extinguished. The Marine Corps, Customs and Border Patrols have gotten rid of multiple hectares of what used to be vegetation.

We depend on each other

Regardless of what the media, president and people with power have said in the past, the reality is that both countries need each other for economical reasons. As Alan Bersin said, "Six million jobs in the US depend on trade with Mexico. Ten border states - six in Mexico and four in the United States - combined have the third and fourth largest economy in the world. Twenty-nine US states depend on Mexico as their primary export market." When illegal people get deported by the border patrol or by ICE, many if not all of the hard work that US citizens do not want to do, are no longer done or the person in charge of paying has to pay them more. While I am not saying that illegal crossing is good, I am trying to make a point that no matter what the people in power say, if they haven't experienced what it is like for an industry to depend on cheap labor, they shouldn't be the only ones making life or death decisions for other people.

I took this picture in the SENTRI side of the San Ysidro Port of Entry. To put waiting times at the border into perspective, my usual commute for high school was about 70-140 minutes. Without the long wait times, my commute to school during high school would've been at least 25-70 minutes shorter.

The other side of the border

When the border between the United States and Mexico has delays for whatever reason or is just slow in general, the United State's economy is the most affected. He reported that the estimated money lost by the border is almost 8 billion on a yearly basis. (Snibbe, 2020) This amount of money could be used to do so many good things instead of being wasted by border times. Since 9/11/2001, the border has only been completely closed once, by president Trump in 2018. Because of his decision to close the border and go into the bunker, the United States lost millions of dollars in one day.

When people think of the border, multiple times they don't think about how this not only affects the day to day life of a person and how much time is spent on the car, but also how it affects the economy.

This picture is of the border from the United States point of view. If some of this land was used to create more points of entry instead of just being "no man's land," the economy would be better. Making people wait the absurd time that it can sometimes take to cross the border, affects the economy and everything that is affected as a domino effect.

The division

This statue in this picture represents where Mexico ends and where the United States begins.

As Daniel Lund said "From the historical perspective of Mexico, the line between Mexico and the U.S. is not just a border; it is a scar that had never quite healed over."

As someone who has experienced it from both sides, if something is not done to form a sort of a unity front between both countries, the Mexican side of the border will continue to suffer. For many, this statue represents the division between their family. It represents the dreams and quality of life they are never going to have and for others, it represents the family and friends they have lost because of this division.

Conclusion

If you compare the first and this last picture, you can see how the wall changed. The first picture of this slideshow I took right before Trump changed the wall, like he called it, and this one I took it this semester. The original wall is much smaller and less strong. This change doesn't only make the people living next to it feel more dehumanized, but also makes the United States gain power at an international level with other countries.

Trump’s main true reason to change the wall, which was previously put there by past presidents of the United States, was to gain popularity and the vote of the people who follow him. Based on what Duran-Fernandez said there was no true need for this to be changed.

The border might only be one thing, but unfortunately, there are two sides to this wall. One side (USA) is divided into two main groups, the ones that believe that if Mexican sare in the country, the country is not safe. And the other side of the US citizens are the ones that believe that if everyone works together as a society, everyone can benefit from Mexicans being in the country, for example to do the cheap labor no US citizen wants to do. The other side of the border is people like me. I was born in the United States (legally) but because of this physical division, I have to wait extra time in order to be allowed back into my own country.

The border helps us divide both countries in a clear way, but it affects a lot of the animals and vegetation that used to live where the border is now built. Many animal species are going extinct because when the last border was built, they decided to pass it right through their main living space dividing the species into two groups that can’t reproduce.