An Introduction to the Multiple US–Mexico Borders

Abstract

In this, a thematic issue on multiple borders, our goal is to unpack the lengthy border to explore differences and similarities from the western industrialized Tijuana–San Diego Pacific coastal region, the de-populated Sonora–Arizona desert, the densely settled global manufacturing central Paso del Norte site, and the agricultural spaces and smaller urban settlements of South Texas–northeastern Mexico. This thematic volume includes seven articles that not only reveal contextual differences at “multiple” US–Mexico borders, but also the overarching themes of violence and dehumanization from media and policy constructions—that are derived from constant trans-border flows, both legal and illicit. The relevant differences complicate public policy impacts, social and environmental issues, and action strategies for the future, posing intriguing new research with implications for borderlands in other world regions. In unpacking the lengthy US–Mexico border to analyze differences, we hope to stimulate thinking about other borderlands around the world for which overgeneralizations may have also been made, just as with the research on the US–Mexico borderlands.