Introduction
Border Security has been the United States’ biggest concern since the 9-11 incidents. A lot of laws have been formulated, drafted, enacted and enforced in order to reduce if not to curb the incidences of insecurity that arise through border porosity. These regulations have been enacted so that the security officers are empowered in order to ensure no illegal migrant or substance gets into the country through the borders. In the book, the major characters play important roles in the definition of the scope and intent of the book on the subject. Lazaro Guzman is the supervisor at Homeland Security, and he provides crucial information on how the border patrol was conducted by this institution. Another character in the book is James Duff Lyall, who is a staff attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona. He explains the rules that operate along with the Fourth Amendment. This is very important for the definition of laws that operate to protect the people. Janet Napolitano is another character who is the head of Department of Homeland Security. She is obligated to give orders on border patrols with issuance of ammunitions and security enhancer equipment to curb illegal border immigration.
Summary of the Book
The “Border Patrol Nation” is identified to be Todd Miller’s first book. This book covers deeply on how border patrol and general enforcement has expanded radically following the 9-11 incidence, which caused deaths to a large number of people. He quotes, in this book, the expansion of government’s expenditure on Homeland Security. This is quoted to be around or over, $790 billion. The Homeland security is the agency responsible for border security in the United States. In the book, the general idea is reported to be involving all of us within our borders. The book quotes several instances when the government beefed up security agents in the borders and mostly the US-Mexico border. For instance in 2012, $ 18 billion was used on border and immigration enforcement.
There are strategies that the US government and the security agencies use are well-founded on structures and institutional frameworks. The money that is spent on the borders patrol and security flows outside the borders into other adjacent countries like Mexico. This is intended to reach the agents who are in turn to improve their survey and develop networks to curb illegal movements of people and illicit and harmful products. This mainly helps in the prevention of people in the North.
In the book, the author outlines a historical path of injustices caused by illegal immigration of people and illegal products into the US through the porous borders then. The number of characters who have been extradited yearly has been on the increase since the 90s. This increase notifies the strict nature of illegal immigration of people and substances. The laws regarding the immigration at the counties’ levels have been effected by giving the local and state police the obligation to enforce these laws. Generally, the book provides the details on how Homeland Security has been empowered by the US government and the law enforcement progress in the region to help in reducing illegal immigration at the borders.
Evaluation of the Book
One of the most significant points the author discussed in the book is the progress in the formulation, drafting, enacting and enforcement of laws regarding border protection. This is in order with the intentions of the Homeland Security, which is mandated to control and curb illegal immigration of people, substances and products. The author defines all the measures that the federal governments have put in place in order to reduce or curb illegal border passages. He articulates this point with laws put in place to reduce this and reverse the opportunities of border passages without precision and clearance by the officers in charge. The officers are charged with the responsibility to ensure that nothing harmful is smuggled into the country through the borders. In order to ensure that these officers efficiently and effectively perform their duties, the officers are trained on special skills and equipped with facilities to improve the efficiency in their work.
In line with this obligation, several institutional frameworks have been reframed in line with the border security control mechanisms. The laws bind together to support Homeland Security and the related departments in the US. These frameworks are also geared towards enforcing and ensuring strict security at the borders of the US. The book provides solutions to wherever points there have been loopholes in the promotion of security along the borders. These solutions are linked to great success and progress in line of border control units. The relevance of this book to the issue that affected the United States over a long period of time is enclosed in the security improvements and the reframing and enacting of laws to protect and enhance border Patrols and security. The themes of the book are well explained to the audiences/ readers. The theme of security and governance are explicitly tackled in the book. They provide the proof of the addressing of real issues regarding the border patrol and illegal immigration of people and substances.
Information about the Publisher
The book cover was designed by John Gates and was published by Library of Congress Data at the City Lights Bookstore, 261 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco. The price of the book is $ 10.59. The ISBN number is 978-0-87286-631-7.
- Miller, T. (2014). Border patrol nation: Dispatches from the front lines of homeland security. San Francisco: City Lights Publishers.
