The Security Apparatus, Federal Magistrate Courts, and Detention Centers as Simulacra: The Effects of Trump's Zero Tolerance Policy on Migrants and Refugees in the Rio Grande Valley

Abstract

Trump's Department of Homeland Security implemented the Zero Tolerance policy from April 6 to June 24, 2018. Refugees, prevented from crossing the midpoints of bridges by Customs and Border Protection agents, crossed the Rio Grande to ask for asylum, were denied, and forced to cross at places deemed illegal by law. This resulted in misdemeanor violations for unlawful entry and fleeing immigration checkpoints. The policy initiative centered on the separation of children from their migrant parents—refugees fleeing from the northern triangle countries: El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Adult migrants were sent to prisons and holding facilities, brought before a magistrate to plead guilty, and were deported while their children were placed in government‐funded privately‐owned detention centers. Migrants contend with a security apparatus comprised of border walls, zones of surveillance, agents, and paramilitary troops. This article analyzes the United States (in)security system using Baudrillard's concept of simulacrum supplemented by Foucault's dispositif and Agamben's apparatuses.Related ArticlesByrne, Jennifer, and Gregory C. Dixon. 2013. “Reevaluating American Attitudes toward Immigrants in the Twenty‐First Century: The Role of a Multicreedal National Identity.” Politics & Policy 41 (1): 83‐116. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12002Duman, Yoav H. 2014. “Reducing the Fog? Immigrant Regularization and the State.” Politics & Policy 42 (2): 187‐220. https://doi.org/10.1111/polp.12065Silverman, Stephanie J. 2012. “‘Regrettable but Necessary?’ A Historical and Theoretical Study of the Rise of the U.K. Immigration Detention Estate and its Opposition.” Politics & Policy 40 (6): 1131‐1157. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2012.00393.x