Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Remaking of the U.S. – Mexico Boundary - Softcover

Nevins, Joseph

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415931053 ISBN 13: 9780415931052

Publisher: Routledge, 2001

Synopsis

By 1994 American anti-immigration rhetoric had reached a fevered pitch, and throngs of migrants entered the U.S. nightly. In response, the INS launched "Operation Gatekeeper," the centerpiece of the Clinton administration's unprecedented effort to "regain control" of our borders. In Operation Gatekeeper, Joseph Nevins details the administration's dramatic overhaul of the San Diego-Tijauna border-the busiest land crossing in the world-adding miles of new fence and hundreds of trained agents.

About this title

From the Publisher

“Nevins meticulously deconstructs this political, and above all, human phenomenon in a thorough and penetrating text. Operation Gatekeeper could not be more timely: literally, there are lives on the line.” --Rubén Martínez, author of Crossing Over: A Mexican Family on the Migrant Trail

Operation Gatekeeper gives a forensic-like analysis of the U.S.-Mexican border, and efforts to control the human resources on both its sides. Indispensable to scholars and anyone wanting to know why the border is still contested ground.--Rodolfo F. Acuña, author of Occupied America: A History of Chicanos

“An important and timely book. Not only does Nevins provide a convincing indictment of U.S. policy on the Mexican border (a policy that has increased deaths, driven down wages, and shown the U.S. to be anything but the open, tolerant society is likes to proclaim itself to be). He also provides a rich account of the historical and contemporary context that has made Operation Gatekeeper central to rising American Nationalism.” --Don Mitchell, author of The Lie of the Land: Migrant Workers and the California Landscape

About the Author

Joseph Nevins is an accomplished journalist whose work has appeared in The Nation, The Progressive, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Times. He currently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley Mike Davis is a contributing editor to The Nation and Professor of History at SUNY Stony Brook. He is the author of four books, including Magical Urbanism and City of Quartz.

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0415931053
• ISBN 13: 9780415931052
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256