US-Mexico Border Research Articles

202 COVID-19 Pandemic Sleep Disturbances Related To Dietary Behavior at the US-Mexico Border

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted life at the US-Mexico border in many ways, including sleep and dietary behavior. Given the potential long-term impact of worsening sleep and metabolic health due to the pandemic, the present study examines whether changes to dietary behavior were associated with changes to sleep.MethodsParticipants were 155 individuals who completed the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep (NOCHES) Study and were contacted about completing a COVID-19 sub-study (95% Hispanic/Latino). Participants reported the degree to which they experienced pandemic-related changes to sleep, including a more regular schedule, overall improvement, overall worsening, more initial insomnia, more middle-of-the-night insomnia, more daytime sleepiness, and more napping. They were also asked whether as a result of the pandemic they consumed an overall healthier diet, more homecooked meals, more processed meals, more regular meals, whether they enjoyed food more, and degree of overeating. Ordinal regressions with diet change as outcome and sleep change as predictor were adjusted for age, sex, education, and socioeconomics.ResultsThose who reported more regular sleep were more likely to report a healthier overall diet (oOR=3.12,p<0.0005), more homecooked meals (oOR=2.18,p=0.001), more enjoyment of food (oOR=1.71,p=0.028), and less likelihood of overeating (oOR=0.59,p=0.033). Similarly, those who reported more “improved” sleep reported healthier overall diet (oOR=7.42,p<0.0005), more homecooked meals (oOR=2.59,p=0.001), more regular diet (oOR=2.15,p=0.006), more enjoyment of food (oOR=2.92,p<0.0005), less consumption of processed foods (oOR=0.54,p=0.039), and less overeating (0.33,p<0.0005). Those whose sleep worsened reported eating more processed foods (oOR=1.78,p=0.030) and overeating (oOR=3.90,p<0.0005). Those who reported more initial insomnia reported eating more processed foods (oOR=1.93,p=0.016), more regular diet (oOR=1.65,p=0.042), and overeating more often (oOR=4.11,p<0.0005). More middle-of-the-night insomnia was associated with eating more processed foods (oOR=2.45,p=0.001), more regular diet (oOR=1.66,p=0.031), and overeating more often (oOR=3.68, <0.0005). Those with more daytime sleepiness also reported eating more processed foods (oOR=2.36,p=0.003), more regular diet (oOR=1.79, =0.019), and overeating more often (oOR=3.28,p<0.0005). More napping was associated with a more regular diet (oOR=1.90,p=0.011) and more overeating (oOR=3.53,p<0.0005).ConclusionOverall, worse sleep led to worse dietary behavior, especially eating more processed food and overeating.Support (if any)Supported by T32HL007249, R01MD011600, R01DA051321

198 COVID-19 Pandemic Nightmares at the US-Mexico Border

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted individuals in many ways, including anecdotal reports of nightmares. However, little data exists regarding the experience of COVID-related nightmares, especially among the distressed population at the US-Mexico Border. This is especially relevant given the clinical importance of nightmares as risk factors for poor mental health and sleep disturbances.MethodsParticipants were N=155 individuals who completed the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep (NOCHES) and were contacted about completing a COVID sub-study (95% Hispanic/Latino). Participants were asked for the number of nightmares that they have experienced since the pandemic started. They were also asked whether they had nightmares about confinement, claustrophobia, suffocation, oppression, drowning, failure, helplessness, natural disasters, anxiety, evil forces, war, separation from loved ones, being chased, sickness, death, COVID, and apocalypse. They were also asked whether they experienced, due to the pandemic, increased general, financial, food, housing, familial, relationship, and media-related stress. Each of these items was coded from 0 (“Strongly Disagree”) to 3 (“Strongly Agree”), with total scores ranging from 0-21. Regression analyses (linear for frequency and binary logistic for content) examined stress score as independent variable, adjusted for age, sex, financial status, education, and mental health (PHQ4).ResultsThose who experienced greater pandemic-related stress reported more nightmares (age/sex-adjusted B=0.23, p<0.0005, fully-adjusted B=0.23, p<0.0005). They were also more likely to have nightmares about confinement (adjusted odds ratio [OR]=1.69, p=0.008), suffocation (OR=1.41, p=0.020), failure (OR=1.23, p=0.049), being chased (OR=1.24, p=0.013), sickness (OR=1.26, p=0.022), and COVID (OR=1.37, p=0.003).ConclusionThose who experienced more pandemic-related stress reported more nightmares, even after adjusting for depression/anxiety symptoms. In addition, those with more pandemic-related stress were more likely to have nightmares about COVID itself, as well as confinement and suffocation, being chased, failure, and sickness in general. Perhaps efforts to reduce pandemic-related stress will reduce these nightmare experiences, which may have beneficial effects on other areas of mental health.Support (if any)R01MD011600, R01DA051321

201 COVID-19 Pandemic Sleep Disturbances Related to Stress Experiences at the US-Mexico Border

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has impacted many individuals at the vulnerable US-Mexico border region in a variety of ways. Fear, worry, and stress have increased for many, as has poor sleep. The present study evaluated the degree to which worsened sleep due to the pandemic impacted stress experiences.MethodsParticipants were N=155 individuals who completed the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep (NOCHES) and were contacted about completing a COVID sub-study (95% Hispanic/Latino). They were asked the degree to which their sleep worsened due to the pandemic. They also reported the degree to which they agreed with statements regarding various pandemic-related stress experiences. These included infection-related stresses, stresses about community impact, personal psychosocial stresses, stresses about consequences of potential infection, media and society-related stresses, feelings of safety, and how the pandemic has impacted home life. Ordinal logistic regressions were used to determine whether changes in sleep were associated with agreement with statements about pandemic-related stress experiences, adjusted for age, sex, financial status, education, and mental health (PHQ4).ResultsThose who perceived that their sleep worsened were more likely to report greater endorsement of beliefs that they were infected (ordinal Odds Ratio [oOR]=2.82,p<0.0005), they could possibly be infected (oOR=1.98,p=0.003), they feared testing (oOR=1.94,p=0.006), COVID-19 would impact their community (oOR=1.75,p=0.017) and would do so for a long time (oOR=1.90,p=0.006), they experience more general (oOR=4.10,p<0.0005), financial (oOR=3.15,p<0.0005), food-related (oOR=2.97,p<0.0005), housing-related (oOR=2.14,p=0.002), family-related (oOR=2.53,p<0.0005) and relationship (oOR=3.37,p<0.0005) stress, their shopping was impacted by scarcity (oOR=1.76,p=0.014), and they are at high risk for COVID (oOR=1.87,p=0.008). Furthermore, media coverage of COVID-19 had increased their stress (oOR=2.46,p<0.0005), there is too much panic about COVID-19 (oOR=1.67,p=0.032), and they themselves are scared of getting COVID-19 (oOR=1.95,p=0.005), worried about the future (oOR=1.71,p=0.022), feel less secure (oOR=0.59,p=0.028), are thriving less (oOR=0.40,p<0.0005), and their mental health is not improving (oOR=0.46,p=0.002).ConclusionWorse sleep due to the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increased reports of stresses across a wide range of domains. Perhaps sleep health interventions could improve social and emotional health in these domains and reduce stress experiences and better cope with the pandemic. Alternatively, mental health interventions should perhaps be targeted to this population.Support (if any)R01MD011600, R01DA051321

200 COVID-19 Pandemic Sleep Changes Related to Social and Financial Impacts at the US-Mexico Border

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has caused major impacts to social and financial status for many people, including those living in the vulnerable US-Mexico border region. This study examined relationships between changes in sleep and perceived impacts to social and financial stability due to the pandemic.MethodsParticipants were 155 individuals who completed the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep (NOCHES) and were contacted about completing a COVID sub-study (95% Hispanic/Latino). Participants were asked if the COVID-19 pandemic was causing them to feel more socially isolated, negatively impacting their finances, causing increased worry about finances, affecting their primary job, causing a job loss, and impacting their belief life will one day return to normal. In addition, they were asked to report the degree to which they experienced pandemic-related changes to sleep, including a regularity, overall improvement/worsening, initial and middle-of-the-night insomnia, daytime sleepiness, and napping. Logistic regression analyses were adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomics, and mental health (PHQ4).ResultsThose who kept a more regular schedule had lower odds of endorsing isolation (OR=0.32,p<0.0005) and higher odds of believing things will return to normal (OR=1.67,p=0.041). Those whose sleep improved also had lower odds of feeling isolated (OR=0.40,p=0.005). Those with worsened sleep had increased odds of feeling isolated (OR=2.14,p=0.023), experiencing a financial impact (OR=1.85,p=0.016) and increased financial worry (OR=1.71,p=0.033), and lower odds of believing things will return to normal (OR=0.53,p=0.012). More initial insomnia was associated with isolation (OR=3.62,p=0.001), financial impact, (OR=1.89,p=0.015), financial worry (OR=1.87,p=0.016) and job impact (OR=1.95,p=0.010). More middle-of-the-night insomnia was associated with financial worry (OR=1.82,p=0.016) and job impact (OR=1.93,p=0.009). More sleepiness was associated with job loss (OR=1.84,p=0.043). More napping was associated with financial impact (OR=1.89,p=0.017) and worry (OR=1.88,p=0.017), impact to job (OR=1.89,p=0.016) or lost job (OR=1.81,p=0.041), and decreased likelihood of believing things will return to normal (OR=0.45,p=0.003).ConclusionPandemic-related stress was linked with sleep disturbances. Worse sleep was indicative of increased social isolation, greater financial fears, more job-related impacts and less of a general sense that things would return to normal.Support (if any)Supported by T32HL007249, R01MD011600, R01DA051321

199 COVID-19 Pandemic Sleep and Dreams at the US-Mexico Border

IntroductionThe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the border region is not well-described, including the impact of pandemic-related sleep disturbances on dream experiences, despite frequent reports of meaningful changes to dreams in the population.MethodsParticipants were 155 individuals who completed the Nogales Cardiometabolic Health and Sleep (NOCHES) Study and a COVID sub-study (95% Hispanic/Latino). Participants were asked whether, as a result of the pandemic, they have experienced more schedule regularity, improved/worsened sleep, more initial or middle-of-the-night insomnia, more sleepiness, and more napping. They were also asked whether they experienced more, fewer, or the same amount of dreams in general, positive dreams, and negative dreams. Multinomial logistic regressions were used to examine overall, positive, and negative dream recall (more or less vs same) as outcome and perceived change in sleep as independent variable, adjusted for age, sex, socioeconomics, and mental health symptoms (assessed with PHQ4).ResultsThose who reported more schedule regularity were less likely to report more negative dreams (Relative Risk Ratio [RRR]=0.40, p=0.010). Those who reported improved sleep were also more likely to report more positive dreams (RRR=3.97, p=0.004). Those with worsened sleep were more likely to report fewer dreams overall (RRR=2.23, p=0.037), fewer positive dreams (RRR=2.24, p=0.003) and more negative dreams (RRR=3.69, p<0.0005). Those with more initial insomnia were more likely to report fewer positive dreams (RRR=2.43, p=0.002) and more negative dreams (RRR=4.12, p<0.0005). Those with more middle-of-the-night insomnia reported fewer dreams overall (RRR=2.35, p=0.018), fewer positive dreams (RRR=2.55, p=0.001), and more negative dreams (RRR=5.01, p<0.0005). Those with more daytime sleepiness were more likely to report fewer dreams overall (RRR=4.75, p<0.0005), fewer positive dreams (RRR=1.92, p=0.019), and more negative dreams (RRR=3.91, p<0.0005), and were less likely to report more positive dreams (RRR=0.26, p=0.018). Those who reported napping more were more likely to report fewer dreams overall (RRR=2.78, p=0.008), fewer positive dreams (RRR=2.10, P=0.008), and more negative dreams (RRR=2.83, p=0.003), and were less likely to report more positive dreams (RRR=0.16, p=0.004).ConclusionThose whose sleep worsened due to the pandemic reported less dream recall, and dream content that was more negative and less positive overall.Support (if any)R01MD011600, R01DA051321

Simulated dynamics of southern cattle fever ticks (Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus) in south Texas, USA: investigating potential wildlife-mediated impacts on eradication efforts

BackgroundCattle fever ticks (CFT), Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) annulatus and R. (B.) microplus, are vectors of microbes causing bovine babesiosis and pose a threat to the economic viability of the US livestock industry. Efforts by the Cattle Fever Tick Eradication Program (CFTEP) along the US-Mexico border in south Texas are complicated by the involvement of alternate hosts, including white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus).MethodsIn the present study, we use a spatially explicit, individual-based model to explore the potential effects of host species composition and host habitat use patterns on southern cattle fever ticks (SCFT, R. (B.) microplus) infestation dynamics and efficacy of eradication schemes.ResultsIn simulations without eradication efforts, mean off-host larval densities were much higher when cattle were present than when only white-tailed deer and nilgai were present. Densities in mesquite and meadows were slightly higher, and densities in mixed brush were much lower, than landscape-level densities in each of these scenarios. In eradication simulations, reductions in mean off-host larval densities at the landscape level were much smaller when acaricide was applied to cattle only, or to cattle and white-tailed deer, than when applied to cattle and nilgai. Relative density reductions in mesquite, mixed brush, and meadows depended on host habitat use preferences. Shifting nilgai habitat use preferences increasingly toward mixed brush and away from mesquite did not change mean off-host larval tick densities noticeably at the landscape level. However, mean densities were increased markedly in mesquite and decreased markedly in mixed brush, while no noticeable change in density was observed in meadows.ConclusionsOur results suggest that continued integration of field data into spatially explicit, individual-based models will facilitate the development of novel eradication strategies and will allow near-real-time infestation forecasts as an aid in anticipating and preventing wildlife-mediated impacts on SCFT eradication efforts.Graphical

The Development and Implementation of Preventive Medicine Resident Rotations in a Shelter Serving Asylum-Seekers at the US-Mexico Border

Asylum-seekers present to the US-Mexico border with a variety of acute health needs. In December 2018, the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency partnered with the University of California, San Diego to provide health screenings to asylum-seekers at a humanitarian shelter administered by Jewish Family Services. The assessments screened for communicable diseases and acute conditions. Preventive medicine residents in the HRSA-funded UCSD-SDSU (University of California, San Diego-San Diego State University) Residency were trained to become an integral part of the program. Training included cultural competency, public health interface, protocol development and implementation, interdisciplinary teamwork, and quality improvement. Over 18 months, nearly 20000 asylum-seekers were screened, which allowed for the detection of an imported influenza outbreak and prevented any major public health incidents or medical errors. This health screening program for asylum-seekers provided an important experience for preventive medicine trainees. In turn, preventive medicine and other trainees were valuable contributors to the program.

Coloniality and the political economy of gender: Edgework in Juárez City

The manner in which urban locations are drawn into the global economy defines their spatial organisation, distribution and utilisation. The relationships that are generated by this process include economic exchanges, racialised dynamics between workers and owners, gendered divisions of labour and the use and abuse of natural resources and infrastructure. These encounters of globalisation are often unequal or awkward and mediated by varying forms of violence, from structural to interpersonal, as these are used to rebalance the terms on which they meet. Using coloniality as an analytical tool, this article discusses the delicate balance of these Western-led encounters. Globalisation has become colonial by embedding hierarchical relationships in the foundations of the modern political economy. Gender identities, whiteness and non-whiteness, developed and underdeveloped are continually redefined, stigmatising certain groups and locations while elevating others on the basis of colonial power dynamics. Through a case study of the US–Mexico border city of Juárez, this article examines ethnographic work in its global context to explore how shame has become attached to male identities in locations of urban marginality. Theorising around the coloniality of urban space production, I discuss how Juárez’s border location has shaped its development though gendered and racialised frictions that are kept in check with violence. A coloniality perspective enables the unpicking of dominant conceptions of industrial cities in the Global South as metonyms for underdevelopment. Using the concept of edgework, I draw out how violence oils the wheels of globalisation to renegotiate damaged identities in contexts of territorial stigma.

Combatting water scarcity and economic distress along the US-Mexico border using renewable powered desalination

Access to sustainable clean water is a necessity for any successful civilization. The US-Mexico border has been experiencing a decline in the availability of this critical resource, stemming from mismanagement and heightened population which are exacerbated by climate change. If water is not adequately overseen, the region will be unable to support local societies and industry, effecting millions of inhabitants. A vision, articulated in Scientific American in 2019, outlined the potential for the development of a technology innovation park along the border which would provide sustainable water using renewable powered desalination. A version of this concept is demonstrated for the American side with configurations of coastal Seawater Reverse Osmosis desalination plants, sized to meet the public water demand of ~1000 MGal/day (~3.79 Mm3/day). The desalination and distribution of clean water is powered by offshore wind and onshore solar PV farms, which transfer energy over High Voltage Direct Current cables. One-hundred eight (108) renewable variations were simulated and demonstrated the ability to supply clean water at a levelized cost of 2.00–3.52 $/m3. When compared to 27 fossil fuel configurations, renewable powered variations avert adding the equivalent of 1.7–2,000,000 cars worth of CO2 pollution per year, avoid withdrawing the equivalent of 67–77,000 US households worth of water for power generation annually and add potentially over 100,000 more jobs. As water scarcity along the border becomes more prevalent, alternative sources of sustainable water will be crucial for bringing long term resource and economic stability to the region.

Review: REMEX: Toward an Art History of the NAFTA Era, by Amy Sara Carroll

Review: <i>REMEX: Toward an Art History of the NAFTA Era</i>, by Amy Sara Carroll

Writing Refugee Crisis in the Age of Amazon:Lost Children Archive's Reenactment Play

This essay analyzes Valeria Luiselli's 2019 novel Lost Children Archive's attempt to imagine anti-imperialist solidarity aesthetics in a moment of the increasing imbrication of the US literary sphere and settler colonial capitalist surveillance of the US-Mexico border, as well as the nonprofit care regime that has arisen to oppose and ameliorate its effects. Because these structures converge around overt and subterranean investments in settler colonial frontier fantasy, the essay focuses particularly on Lost Children Archive's engagement with the tradition of the white male road novel Western in the Americas—Luiselli's attempts to write both through and against this form—as part of the novel's larger attempt to grapple with the formal problems that adhere in representing the temporality and scale of ongoing Central American Indigenous dispossession and refugee displacement in settler colonial capitalism. In exploring the degree to which the Western genre's tradition of, per Philip Deloria, “playing Indian” might oppose the brutal bureaucratic violence of the xenophobic carceral settler US state, the novel builds a critique of the frontier road novel fantasy that it cannot quite sustain.

Patterns of Eating Associated with Sleep Characteristics: A Pilot Study among Individuals of Mexican Descent at the US-Mexico Border

ABSTRACT Introduction: Previous studies have linked sleep to risk of diabetes and obesity, at least partially via alterations in food intake. Diabetes and obesity are common among Hispanics/Latinos, and studies are needed to better clarify the role of sleep in health among this group. Utilizing the revised TFEQ-R-18, this study will examine whether eating behaviors such as cognitive restraint, emotional eating and uncontrolled eating are related to self-reported sleep experiences. Specifically, we hypothesized that poor eating habits would be associated with (1) more insomnia symptoms, (2) overall worse sleep quality, (3) increased daytime sleepiness, and (4) shorter sleep duration. Methods: Data were collected from N = 100 adults (age 18–60, 47% female) of Mexican descent in the city of Nogales, AZ (34% not born in the US). Surveys were presented in English or Spanish. Eating Patterns were assessed with the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ), which resulted in a total score and subscales for “cognitive restraint,” “uncontrolled eating,” and “emotional eating.” Insomnia was assessed with the use of the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Sleepiness with the use of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), Sleep quality with the use of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and weekday and weekend sleep duration with the use of the Sleep Timing Questionnaire (STQ). Covariates included age, sex, Body Mass Index (BMI), education and immigrant status. Results: Overall TFEQ score (problematic eating) was positively associated with greater insomnia, poorer sleep quality, more sleepiness, and less weekend (but not weekday) sleep. Mean TFEQ score in the sample was 18.7 (range 0–51). In adjusted analyses, every point on the TFEQ was associated with 0.6 ISI points, 0.8 PSQI points, 0.5 ESS points, and 1.1 minutes of less weekend sleep duration. Regarding subscale scores, relationships were generally seenbetween sleep and emotional eating and unrestricted eating, and not cognitive restraint. Conclusions: Greater insomnia, poorer sleep quality, increased daytime sleepiness and decreased weekend sleep duration were associated with eating patterns at the US-Mexico border, particularly in the area of unrestricted eating and emotional eating. This suggests possible mechanisms linking sleep and obesity in Hispanic/Latinos.

Review of “Divided by the Wall: Progressive and Conservative Immigration Politics at the US-Mexico Border”

Review of “Divided by the Wall: Progressive and Conservative Immigration Politics at the US-Mexico Border”

From towers to walls: Trump’s border wall as entrepreneurial performance

The pledge to build a “great”, “beautiful” southern border wall was a cornerstone of Donald J. Trump’s 2016 presidential election campaign. This paper analyzes Trump’s border wall project as an example of performative statecraft, suggesting that the wall works better rhetorically, than as a barrier against unauthorized cross-border movement. Identifying Trump’s performative statecraft as “entrepreneurial”, we argue that his border wall discourse differs from that of earlier presidents in the way Trump meshes the performance of the border wall as a protective device with his own performance as an entrepreneur and developer. Trump’s border wall discourse accentuates his personal skills as an entrepreneur, and makes these skills relevant to his key campaign promises: to “Make America Great Again”, and defend the nation against transnational crime. Despite Trump’s radical reformulation of US asylum policy, enhanced pursuit of unauthorized immigrants, termination of Obama-era programs like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and disturbing but short-lived family separation and ‘Zero-Tolerance’ detention scheme, the border security policies of President Trump are not as novel as his promotional campaigns would have us believe. In fact, Trump’s border control strategies have continued many of the measures introduced by earlier presidents. The novelty of the Trump presidency lies in the strong focus on the new US–Mexico border wall, and fervent attention to the physical attributes and instrumental functions of the wall. Much more than a fence, Trump’s proposed border wall is a grand, awe-inspiring monument to national security, and to Trump’s entrepreneurial statecraft. It also works as a visual aide for Trump’s plan to “Make America Great Again”. Border walls stand as testimony to the power of the state, and the determination of those who defend it. Trump’s border wall would be no exception.

Cuttitta, Paolo and Last, Tamara (eds.) 2020. Border Deaths: Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. 174 pp

Border Deaths: Causes, Dynamics and Consequences of Migration-related Mortality, a volume edited by Paolo Cuttitta and Tamara Last, compiles articles dealing with migration-related mortality from a variety of perspectives. It is an outcome of a conference Border deaths and migration policies: state and non-state approaches, organized as part of the research project Border Policies and Sovereignty. Human rights and the right to life of irregular migrants at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The book includes eight chapters in addition to an introduction and afterword. Many of the authors have a legal background, and the chapters mainly focus on unveiling the phenomenon of deaths at the borders. The emphasis lays on the southern border of the European Union (EU), but examples from the US-Mexico border are also drawn. Altogether, the volume provides a concise glimpse to the phenomenon, illustrating why this important topic should be researched further.

Populism and Securitization: The Corrosion of Elite Security Authority in a US–Mexico Border State

AbstractPopulists have often seemed influential in the securitization of migration, in great part through pressuring non-populist governing elites into “mainstreaming” more hardline immigration positions. This article asks why, given the presumption in securitization literatures that elite insiders possess strong authority in defining security, non-populist governing elites often in fact cede ground to populist challengers who paint immigration as a threat. Securitization and political science literatures paint very different pictures of elite–challenger dynamics, but populist and securitization claims possess key ideational similarities, in relation to the holism and autonomy of the political community, and the apoliticism of pursuing purportedly self-evident goals. However, populism articulates securitarian concepts through a moralized anti-elitism that impugns elite authority, portraying governing elites as corruptly inert toward threats facing “the people.” This article explores how this ideational relationship may affect securitization processes through a process-tracing study of the populist radical right's successful pressuring of governing elites to securitize migration in the US state of Arizona. There, populists’ moralized accusations of corrupt elite inaction toward urgent security threats moved governing elites to adopt positions intended to demonstrate responsiveness to public border-security anxieties, thereby inscribing securitization. Taking an “ideational” view of both concepts shows how they can form a politically influential account of “common sense.” By undermining elite security authority—thus inverting the typically theorized power dynamics of securitization—populism may open new pathways for securitized policies to emerge.

Book Review: Love in the Drug War: Selling Sex and Finding Jesus on the Mexico-US Border

Book Review: Love in the Drug War: Selling Sex and Finding Jesus on the Mexico-US Border

Diversity of rickettsiae in domestic, synanthropic, and sylvatic mammals and their ectoparasites in a spotted fever-epidemic region at the western US-Mexico border.

Over one hundred cases of human rickettsiosis, many fatal, are reported annually across the US-Mexico transboundary region, representing a likely undercount. Although cases are often attributed to Rickettsia rickettsii, the agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever, multiple other Rickettsia pathogens are present in North America. We conducted multiple-host surveillance of domestic, synanthropic, and sylvatic mammals and their ectoparasites to investigate the ecology of Rickettsia species in this region. A total of 499 mammals, including 83 dogs, 23 wild carnivores, five lagomorphs, and 388 rodents were sampled, and 413 fleas and 447 ticks belonging to 15 and 4 species, respectively, were collected during 2017 and 2018. We detected Rickettsia spp. DNA in one blood sample of coyote (Canis latrans), 11 ear tissues of rodents (10.6%), and 79 ectoparasites (9.5%). Of the 64 Rickettsia-positive fleas, 54 were Echidnophaga gallinacea and 10 were Pulex simulans, while of the 15 ticks, 11 were Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l. and four Ixodes pacificus. The DNA sequence alignment of gltA and ompB regions revealed one and ten genetic variants of Rickettsia spp., respectively. These variants were clustered in clades of zoonotic species (R. felis, R. massiliae, R. parkeri, R. rickettsii, and R. typhi) and organisms of unknown pathogenic significance (R. asembonensis and Candidatus Rickettsia tarasevichiae). The finding of a coyote infected with R. rickettsii and the multiple zoonotic SFG rickettsial agents in the study area suggest that: 1) wild canids could serve as an amplifying host for RMSF, an alternate host for Rh. sanguineus s.l. ticks, and a means to spread infection and ticks over large areas; and 2) at least some of the human rickettsiosis cases attributed to R. rickettsii could be caused by other Rickettsia species. This study strongly supports the importance of multiple-host and vector eco-epidemiological studies and the One Health approach to better understand disease in a RMSF-epidemic region.

NAFTA and environment after 25 years: A retrospective analysis of the US-Mexico border

Twenty-five years after the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force, what impact has it had on the US-Mexico border environment? This paper asks what lessons NAFTA offers to contemporary debates about trade and environmental governance through analysis of time series data and expert perceptions on the environment of the US-Mexico borderlands. In the early 1990s, scholars and activists argued that NAFTA would have mostly negative impacts on the US-Mexico border, creating water scarcity and increasing air, land and water pollution; degrading ecosystems; and causing health problems. The debate over NAFTA was part of the larger discussion on the environmental impacts of trade and globalization. In response to these concerns, several governance institutions were created to monitor the environment (the Commission for Environmental Cooperation) and to certify and fund improvements to environmental infrastructure along the US-Mexico border (the Border Environment Cooperation Commission and North American Development Bank). NAFTA was recently replaced with a new trade deal (the USMCA). In this paper we review trends in environmental conditions over the past 25 years, mostly on the Mexican side of the border where greater impacts were anticipated, through datasets, institutional reports and scholarly literature. We also present and discuss the results of semi-structured interviews and surveys with 49 experts (researchers, activists, government personnel, and other border institutional actors) to understand the varied legacy of NAFTA on the border environment at 25 years. Although missing data and challenges in attribution complicated our analysis, we found both positive and negative trends in environmental indicators and the literature.

Abstract P145: Who Are We Missing? False Call Rates Decline for Stroke Code Activations During Early Phase of Covid-19 Pandemic

Introduction: To slow the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Department of Homeland Security restricted access across the US-Mexico border in March 2020. During the same time period hospitals throughout the US began reporting declines in emergency department (ED) visits, especially related to stroke. As a stroke receiving center and largest hospital within a Southern California border county serving a binational population, we sought to understand the impact COVID-19 and closure of an international border might have on stroke code activations (SCA) and discharges at our facility. Methods: A retrospective analysis involving 417 cases presenting to a tertiary hospital consisting of two campuses near the US-Mexico border in Southern California was performed. Inclusion criteria: all cases with SCA in the ED arriving from March 1, 2020 to June 30, 2020 and March 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019. Exclusion criteria: cases arriving to the ED that did not have SCA and cases for which stroke codes were initiated after hospitalization. Results: Pedestrian and private auto passenger border crossings decreased by over 5 million people between April and May 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. From March to June 2020, there were 162 ED SCA compared to 255 during the same period in 2019; a 36.5% decrease in SCA in 2020. Additionally, there was a significant increase in the percentage of ED SCA resulting in actual stroke discharge diagnoses during this period. In early 2020, 68.5% of ED SCA were discharged with a stroke diagnosis compared to 60.4% in 2019, X 2 (1, N = 162) = 4.467, p &lt; .05. However, despite the increased true positive rate, there was an overall decrease in the total number of patients with SCA who were diagnosed with stroke (111 in 2020 vs 154 in 2019). Conclusion: As the overall number of SCA decreased during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, so did the total number of patients discharged with a stroke diagnosis. This suggests that fewer patients with acute stroke presented as a SCA during the early COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to the same time period in 2019. It is critically important as a stroke center serving a large, binational population to ensure the population we serve is seeking appropriate and timely care for serious and complex diseases.