Border Splurge to Deter Border Surge: An Auto-ethnographic Examination of Border Security Operations on the South Texas–Mexico Border

Abstract

In the summer of 2014, the South Texas–Mexico border became the epicenter of a humanitarian crisis as thousands of unaccompanied minors and mothers from Central America seeking asylum traveled to the Rio Grande Valley. The institutional response from the state of Texas was to militarize the border with a multi-agency initiative dubbed Operation Strong Safety, at a cost of $1.3 million a week for the remainder of the year. I collected data for this study while I worked as a police officer in a police department located on the South Texas–Mexico border that participated in the operation. Importantly, from an institutional perspective, this study illustrates what police officers do while working on this operation. Findings reveal that officers spent their time performing non-enforcement functions. I argue that state governmental officials should divest from ineffective border security operations and should instead allocate funds to local communities and local organizations who are assisting with the humanitarian crisis.