Scott Whiteford

The Geography of Border Militarization: Violence, Death and Health in Mexico and the United States

Despite proposed increases in spending on personnel and equipment for border enforcement, the complex geography of border militarization and the violence it produces require further examination. We take a geographical perspective to determine the role of violence in both its official forms, such as the incarceration and punishments experienced by undocumented migrants, as well as through abuses and violence perpetrated by agents in shaping border and immigration enforcement. By drawing on the Migrant Border Crossing Study (MBCS), which is a unique data source based on 1,110 surveys of a random sample of deportees, as well as research with family members and return migrants in Puebla, Mexico, we provide an innovative and robust account of the geography of violence and migration. Identifying regional variation allows us to see the priorities and strategic use of violence in certain areas as part of enforcement practice. We assert that understanding the role of violence allows us to explain the prevalence of various forms of abuse, as well as the role of abuse in border enforcement strategies, not as a side effect, but as elemental to the current militarized strategies.

Collaborative Research on the United States-Mexico Border: Social Media, Activism, and the Impact of Scholarship

For several decades, pundits and critics have predicted the end of borders, envisioning a globalized world that ushers in a new era of collaboration and cooperation (Friedman 2005). Yet despite these proclamations and significant advancements in communication technology, as well as the explosion of social media, we have not seen significantly greater collaboration, even between partners as close as those along the United States-Mexico border. This is especially true in academic research. Perhaps communication technologies have taken more time to be fully integrated into the often age-restricted fields of academia. Maybe the very nature of academic collaboration needs far greater contact than is achievable through online and technological resources. Whatever the cause, intense debates in recent years about the safety of working in northern Mexico have complicated research efforts and created a huge divide between Mexican and US colleagues, as many institutions have banned official travel to Mexico.1