Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security

First section of the book is about a Border Security Expo at the University of Arizona.The third Chapter discusses the Border Patrol presence in El Paso and then the pushback they get from the community and students at Bowie High School. How their standing just off high school grounds was getting to the administration. Miller also talks about the many CBP Explorers Posts that exist in the U.S. especially the ones in El Paso and Nogales, for which he goes into detail about the membership drives they do. The training that the kids receive as well as events at the local city hall, in Nogales, AZ. This chapter also talks about the opportunities in the Homeland Security realm at the University of Texas at El Paso. Certificates, associates, Bachelors and Masters Degrees are offered even in Border Patrol, since it is part and parcel with life living on the border between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.The next section talks about two BPA Gonzales and BPA Montoya and how Gonzalez might have said something that now leadership is questioning where his heart is at as a BPA. He had had dual citizenship up until the time he was 18. This is all part of the Border Patrol toughness acumen, to stand your ground whenever adversity is thrown your way. The author, Todd Miller then talks about the rigorous 65 days of training that takes place at the training center in Artesia, NM, that the Border Patrol Agents have to go through. Where BPA Trainees are torn down individually but are built back up collectively. This chapter details the firing of BPA Gonzalez, where he is paraded around the office and then has to turn in all of his equipment, uniform and supplies. The incident just made Gonzalez want to drink. He was so close to the end of his two year probationary period. A quote that is a fitting close for Part I is: “If something is hits you hard you just continue on with the proper dedication, patriotism and esprit de corps. That is the lesson that Bryan Gonzalez never learned” (Miller, 2014, p. 110).Part II introduction begins to discuss that later on the reader will dive into three boundary building scenarios and how they are all different. The first being the give and take between the Border Patrol and the historic lands of the Tohono O’odham Nation, and how the land was bisected by an international border, and the issues that may result when dealing with a nation within a nation. The dilemma being, there are some natives from the now Mexican side and some from the United States side. The next section the author discusses is the pushback from Border Patrol agents in the Detroit Sector and how they won’t answer a few probing questions from Todd Miller, the author.He then dives into the experiences for people on the Haiti/Dominican Republic border that share the island of Hispaniola and how desperately hungry a Haitian was on the DR side, that he came in after people left a table and ate everything left over as quick as possible. Then he goes on to discuss the DR’s version of Customs and Border Protection(CBP). He elaborates on how the influence of the United States Customs and Border Protection is mimicked in other countries after 9/11. The United States extends her borders well beyond her sovereignty.Speaking next on the Detention Center in Batavia, NY. It is not meant for criminals, it is a civil arrangement where people are waiting on a hearing to decide their legal right to remain in the country. The author makes an interesting point that the ICE Supervisory Detention and Deportation officer Todd Tryon does not mention. Most deportees already have established families in the United States that end up being deported.The next section the author talks about South Carolina and how they have their own Immigration Enforcement Unit under the Department of Public Safety which is really unlike any other state. The author discusses many stories that don’t take into account citizens rights under “the Fourth Amendment, which mandates that the government must convince a court of reasonable suspicion before obtaining a search warrant to invade the privacy of an American citizen” (Miller, 2014, p. 278).The author, Todd Miller closes the book discussing the Border Patrol Nation that we all live in, and wraps up all the trials and tribulations of the subjects discussed in the book. How it is a difficult balance to keep our borders safe and not let greed or a misclassification seep into someone’s citizenship. The establishment of the SC Immigration Enforcement Unit certainly grapples when it is okay to stop someone to inquire about said citizenship, with help from Big Brother(Feds) ICE. There is a balance and sometimes law enforcement personnel can overstep their bounds, as they are becoming more militarized. Overall, this book is a great review of the ways things could be tweaked by the federal government, and still maintain safety, security, pragmatism, rationality, and privacy for all.BibliographyMiller, T. (2014). Border Patrol Nation. San Francisco, California: City Lights Books.

In Border Patrol Nation, author Todd Miller delivers a biased exposé on the buildup of U.S. Border Patrol Agents nationwide since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Miller’s focus is the subsequent paradigmatic shift of border enforcement from that primarily of immigration and narcotics enforcement to that of a “fully armed” federal security force in charge of a virtual surveillance state that includes the “watchers” and the “watched.” What Miller means by “fully armed” is never explained, but the tone of his argument and his mockery of border patrol agents’ military-style haircuts and trendy sunglasses as well as his characterization of them as “soldiers” demonstrates his utter contempt for a law enforcement agency that would have the gall to issue firearms to its officers and then have the effrontery to make their carry obligatory. In fact Miller makes it clear that the border patrol is fairly silly for feeling the need to arm itself against a few innocent people of color whose only oversight in their quest for work and a better life is not possessing the right papers.Miller contends that the immigration policies of the U.S. are fundamentally and necessarily racially motivated. Federal agencies charged with immigration enforcement, including the border patrol, target people and communities of color, especially those with brown skin, in order to protect a prosperous way of life for white folk. Miller makes reference to the Chinese Exclusion Act in the late 19th century, with its explicit racial bias, as the turning point in American history from a nation of immigrants to that of a nation of gatekeepers. The modern border patrol, Miller posits, is nothing more than an extension of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny and, ultimately, of European nation-building, with its perpetual intrusion into the lives and properties of people of color along the U.S. borderlands. Miller cites anecdotal evidence from obviously biased organizations, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Council on Islamic American Relations. At other times, Miller makes totally unsubstantiated statements of fact.As with all biased reporting, there is a measure of truth in Miller’s arguments. The border patrol has grown immensely since the author of this review joined its ranks in 1997 as a patrol agent, at which time the agency employed approximately 4,500 officers. Its current size is estimated to be well over 20,000 today. Border patrol surveillance technology has also increased exponentially in the years following 9/11. The writer of this review did witness occasional and unnecessary physical and psychological abuse of detainees at the hands of crooked border patrol agents as well as a culture of corruption and racism that is endemic to the border patrol (Surprisingly, the experience of this writer is that the majority of border patrol agents are of Hispanic ethnicity and racism is directed predominantly toward Anglo-American border patrol agents).Still, there are honest, fair, and non-racist border patrol agents who are dedicated to enforcing the laws of the U.S. and protecting the civil rights of all people. However, Miller’s mockery and obvious contempt for the agents of the border patrol detracts from his arguments and his use of biased sources diminishes his credibility. Lastly, Miller, in a constant critique of border enforcement methods, offers no solution, either to the question of border security in a post-9/11 world, or to the endless waves of undocumented illegal immigrants that continue to stream, virtually unabated and un-vetted, into the U.S. The reader, absent an informed mind, is tempted to rail inwardly against the “monster” that is the U.S. government and its hordes of racist, “fully armed,” green-uniformed mercenaries sent to the borderlands to harass and expel the unwelcomed and undesirable people of color.Despite its shortcomings, Border Patrol Nation is a fascinating look at the culture of the U.S. border and of the U.S. Border Patrol and an enjoyable read. However, due to bias, the reader is cautioned to seek a balanced perspective.