Border Authorities Research Articles

The Fourth Member of NAFTA: The U.S.-Mexico Border

The North American Free Trade Agreement has a fourth member, the U.S.-Mexico border, with 22 million inhabitants, $300 billion in gross domestic product, $100 billion in trade, and a unique history and culture. In 1995, it witnessed some 225 million legal frontier crossings each way, mostly Mexican shoppers, who spent $22 billion in the United States, paid $ 1.7 billion in taxes, and generated 400,000 jobs but received no services. Balanced against the costs of Mexican illegals, American taxpayers made a 600 percent profit. This made Mexico the United States' second- (not third-) largest trading partner. Paso del Norte (Juárez-El Paso) is the border's capital, a binational metropolis of 2 million. Problems abound, from water, immigration, and drug trafficking to public safety, health, welfare, the environment, and infrastructure. But they are not being effectively addressed because they run east-west (from San Diego to Corpus Christi), while government authority and interests run north-south, to and from Washington, Mexico City, and nine state capitals. A binational bankable Border Authority is urgently needed.

Biosecurity threats of vertebrate pests in Australia

A new study finds that exotic pets and stowaway animals present some of the highest risks for the introduction and establishment of new invasive animals in Australia. Associate Professor Phill Cassey and Dr Wendy Henderson report that more effort is needed to collect comprehensive and reliable records on the likely origins of emerging threats – which will require a concerted effort from biosecurity agencies and border authorities.