From Border Control to Border Care: The Political and Ethical Potential of Surveillance.

Abstract

This paper analyzes the use of surveillance by activist groups opposed to the extensive securitization of the US-Mexico border and examines the implications of their activities for scholarship on borders, surveillance, and empowerment. The work of three organizations—the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), No More Deaths, and Humane Borders—is covered. While there is some overlap in their practices, these three organizations, respectively, have concentrated on (1) the use of digital photography and video recording equipment to monitor state agents and vigilante organizations; (2) the coordination of citizen-organized foot patrols to locate and assist migrants in danger; and (3) the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to support the provision of water and high-resolution border maps to migrants. In documenting the practical use and symbolic framing of surveillance by secular and faith-based activists, this article adds necessary complexity to prevailing conceptualizations of observational strategies and practices. It demonstrates that, while they may enhance and extend state control over bounded territories and populations, watching, monitoring, and rendering visible are not inherently exclusionary or repressive acts and can, in fact, be used in the service of undermining borders and their attendant consequences. The groups examined herein have applied surveillance towards contesting official gatekeeping strategies and creating alternative moral geographies where the imperatives of sovereignty and national security are subordinated to social justice and global hospitality.