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

Miller, Todd

ISBN 10: 1713603942 ISBN 13: 9781713603948

Publisher: Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio, 2021

Synopsis

"In his scathing and deeply reported examination of the US Border Patrol, Todd Miller argues that the agency has gone rogue since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, trampling on the dignity and rights of the undocumented with military-style tactics....Miller's book arrives at a moment when it appears that part of the Homeland Security apparatus is backpedaling by promising to tone down its tactics, maybe prodded by investigative journalism, maybe by the revelations of NSA leaker Edward Snowden.... Border Patrol is quite possibly the right book at the right time...." (Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times) 

"At the start of his unsettling and important new book, Border Patrol Nation, Miller observes that these days 'it is common to see the Border Patrol in places - such as Erie, Pennsylvania; Rochester, New York; or Forks, Washington - where only 15 years ago it would have seemed far-fetched, if not unfathomable.” (Barbara Spindel, Christian Science Monitor) 

"Miller's approach in Border Patrol Nation is to offer a glimpse into the secretive operations of the Border Patrol, reporting with a journalist's objectivity and nose for a good story. Miller's book is full of facts, and it's clear he's outraged, but he gives voices to people on every side of the issue … Miller's book is a fascinating read...and bring the work of Susan Orlean to mind." (Amanda Eyre Ward, Kirkus Reviews) 

Armed authorities watch from a military-grade surveillance tower as lines of people stream toward the security checkpoint, tickets in hand, anxious and excited to get through the gate. Few seem to notice or care that the US Border Patrol is monitoring the Super Bowl, as they have for years, one of the many ways that forces created to police the borders are now being used, in an increasingly militarized fashion, to survey and monitor the whole of American society. 

In fast-paced prose, Todd Miller sounds an alarm as he chronicles the changing landscape. Traveling the country - and beyond - to speak with the people most involved with and impacted by the Border Patrol, he combines these first-hand encounters with careful research to expose a vast and booming industry for high-end technology, weapons, surveillance, and prisons. While politicians and corporations reap substantial profits, the experiences of millions of men, women, and children point to staggering humanitarian consequences. Border Patrol Nation shows us in stark relief how the entire country has become a militarized border zone, with consequences that affect us all.

About this title

About the Author

For the past fifteen years Todd Miller has researched, written about, and worked on immigration and border issues from both sides of the U.S. Mexico divide for organizations such as BorderLinks, Witness for Peace, and NACLA. He did the brunt of this work in Tucson, Arizona and Oaxaca, Mexico, with stints in New York City sprinkled in. Between Tucson and the Buffalo/Niagara Falls region of New York state where he grew up, he has spent the majority of his life close to the U.S. international boundary, south and north. He is the author of Border Patrol Nation (City Lights, 2014), and his writings about the border have appeared in the New York Times, TomDispatch, Mother Jones, The Nation, Al Jazeera English, and Salon among other places.

Edition details

• Publisher: Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1713603942
• ISBN 13: 9781713603948
• Binding: Audio CD