An analysis of U.S. Custom and Border Protection’s tripartite Mexico border security policy

Abstract

<jats:p>The Custom and Border Protection (CBP) border security policy was explicitly presented by former Acting Commissioner of CBP, David Aguilar, in testimony before the United States Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (HSGAC) on April 4, 2017 in testimony on the subject of “Fencing Along the Southwest Border.” Important for discussion here are the key components of the DHS/CBP/Border Patrol’s strategy, or sets of policies, laying forth elements of the border walls (including barriers, fences), personnel, and technology in order to hinder, or intercept, undocumented migrants (homo sacer) from entering the United States illegally—all socially constructed. Aguilar notes in his opening remarks “Maintaining a safe and secure environment along the U.S.—Mexico border is critical. A safe and orderly border that is predicated on the strong rule of law deprives criminal organizations, drug cartels, and criminal individuals the opportunity to thrive.” In Aguilar’s testimony, when pressed by Ranking Member Senator Claire McCaskill, he set forth the current needs for CBP/Border Patrol priority of the three elements in the following order: (1) Technology (border surveillance), (2) Personnel (numbers of agents along the border), and, (3) The Border Wall (physical infrastructure: fences, walls, and vehicle barriers). The security apparatus affects dwellers along the Rio Grande and undocumented border crossers, demonstrated here with an analysis of the application of President Trump’s Zero Tolerance policy (April 6–June 20, 2018). The security framework applied in this paper will consist of theoretical approaches assessing border surveillance as a panopticon, the use of Border Patrol agents for apprehending, detaining and removing homo sacer, and the symbolism of the border wall as a spectacle and simulacrum—all understood in the pursuit of USA border security policy.</jats:p>

COVID-19, wall building, and the effects on Migrant Protection Protocols by the Trump administration: the spectacle of the worsening human rights disaster on the Mexico-U.S. border

“…The intent of ZTP is to discourage migrant family units from entering the U.S. through the southwest land border to claim asylum-particularly people from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala (collectively known as the "northern triangle" countries). ZTP officially ended in 2018, however, it is still being put into practice (Garrett, 2018a(Garrett, , 2020. In the case of Texas, where the middle of the Rio Grande is the actual border between Mexico and the U.S., CBP agents stand at the markers on the bridges designating the international boundary, preventing targeted migrants particularly from northern triangle countries from crossing the line into U.S. territory to claim political asylum.…”

“…Usually within 48 h, the accused appears before a judicial magistrate and pleads guilty to the "1325" misdemeanor charge and then is promptly deported by ICE with their children left behind in the U.S. Hundreds of migrant children are still left in the U.S. under ORR and the process continues (Garrett, 2018a(Garrett, , 2020.…”

“…Former Obama administration CBP interim commissioner, Mr. David Aguilar, on 2017, April 4, in front of the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, testified that one of the primary policies of the agency is to hinder, if not stop completely, the unauthorized border crossing of "aliens" (border crossers, or homo sacer). CBP uses a tripartite strategy that entails personnel (boots on the ground), surveillance, and border infrastructure (e.g., walls, fencing, pedestrian and vehicle barriers) (Garrett, 2018a(Garrett, , 2018b(Garrett, , 2020. As such, CBP's USBP have over 18,000 agents on the southwestern border, a wide array of surveillance equipment that Bigo (2006Bigo ( , 2011 refers to as a ban-opticon extending beyond the Foucault/Bentham panopticon concept (Bentham, 1995;Foucault, 1977;Garrett, 2020) by banning or deporting migrants, and the border wall.…”

The Security Apparatus, Federal Magistrate Courts, and Detention Centers as Simulacra: The Effects of Trump's Zero Tolerance Policy on Migrants and Refugees in the Rio Grande Valley

“…Baudrillard's (2006) concept of simulacra was previously used to analyze the wall on the Mexico‐U.S. border by Garrett and Storbeck (2011) and Garrett (2018). Essentially, simulacra are images that have multiple interpretive meanings to different people, or images, going through successive phases spatially and temporally—while viewing or encountering the same object or thing.…”

“…border. In previous work (Garrett 2018; Garrett and Storbeck 2011), the border wall was analyzed as a simulacrum . Simulacra are images, or symbols, that change meaning temporally and spatially.…”