Transborder (in)securities: transborder commuters’ perceptions of U.S. Customs and Border Protection policing at the Mexico–U.S. border

Abstract

ABSTRACT Transborder commuters are a heterogeneous population that includes U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, and Mexican nationals who have the legal documentation to cross the Mexico–U.S. border regularly for a variety of reasons. However, in order to engage in transborder mobility, transborder commuters must navigate land ports of entry and undergo extensive scrutiny from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers, who are afforded ample discretion to conduct their day-to-day policing operations. What factors explain the variation in transborder commuter's perceptions of border policing and border crossing experiences? How do negative border crossing experiences impact transborder commuters overall political engagement and feelings of exclusion from U.S. society? Drawing from an original face-to-face survey administered to pedestrian transborder commuters at the Tijuana-San Ysidro and the Ciudad Juarez-El Paso ports of entry, I find that individuals with the highest social status are more likely to report more negative perceptions of border policing practices. Second, individuals who hold the most negative views of their border-crossing experiences become incentivized to become politically engaged, but report feeling greater exclusion from U.S. society.