Border Towns and Border Crossings: A History of the U.S.-Mexico Divide

This is a compelling and revealing look at the history of the U.S.-Mexico border as a place, a symbol of cross-cultural melding, and a source of growing anxiety over immigration and national security. The U.S.-Mexico border is far more than a line that separates two countries. A winding path of nearly 2,000 miles from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico, it is history, commerce, and culture. In recent years, however, attitudes about border crossings and border issues have hardened as has immigration policy. A source of growing anxiety over illegal immigration, national security, and safety, the border has become a symbol of political cataclysm over immigration law and enforcement, the future of DACA, the increasingly harsh treatment of refugees and others who attempt to cross without authorization, and the future of U.S. policy. This book traces the history of the border and its people, from the creation of the border line to explosive issues surrounding immigration and the future of the United States as a nation of diverse cultures and races.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Creating the Line Documents Speech of Representative Abraham Lincoln (Whig-IL)on Mexican War, January 12, 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, 1848 Gadsden Purchase Treaty, 1853-854 Early Newspaper Report on the Potential Riches in the Mines of Southern Arizona Near the Mexican Border, 1879 2 Civil War Border Strategy Document General Grant Orders General Sheridan to Protect BorderBorderGeneral Grant Orders General Sheridan to Protect, 1865 Memoirs of General Philip Sheridan 3Border Unrest Documents Juan Cortina the Case against Texas 1859 Letter of Territorial Governor of Arizona to Attorney General of the United States on Border Violence in Arizona Territory, 1881 Chinese Exclusion Act Report of Brigadier General George, 1883 4 Boom Towns along the Border Documents James Douglas and Railroad Construction: Extract fromHis Unpublished Autobiograph Oral History with Martha Jane Guthrie Bruemmer, Gadsden, Arizona, 2011 5 Mexico's Revolution and Violence on the Border Documents Report from American Consulate in Nogales, Sonora, on Conditionsalong the Border, 1915 Plan de San Diego, 1915 Arizona Governor Offers Protection to Mexican Refugees, 1916 Testimony of Texas Representative J. T. Canales on Depredations by Texas Rangers on Mexican Border, 1919 95 6 Patrolling the Border Documents President Wilson Vetoes Immigration Legislation, 1915 Report on Alien Smuggling at the Border, 1924 Interview with Immigrant Gerardo Chavez, 1979 Recollections of a Border Patrol Officer, David Blackwell, 1987 California Apology Act for the 1930s Mexican Repatriation Program, 2005 Reflections of Julian Hernandez, a Bracero Worker, 2010 7"Operation Wetback" Documents Report on Use of Wetbacks by Texas Farmers and RanchersSubmitted as Evidence to Commission on Migratory Labor,November 1949 Report of Attorney General Herbert Brownell to Congress onOperation Wetback, 1956 8 Chicano Spirit on the Border Documents Hernandez v. Texas, Summary, 1954 Ruben Salazars Stranger in Ones Land, 1970 Interview with Herman Baca of the Committee on Chicano Rights,1980 9 Fences, Walls, and Boundary Enforcement Documents Operation Intercept Memorandum on Stopping DrugTrafficking, 1969 Deaths in Border Crossings: A Report by the General AccountingOffice, 2006 A Trek to a New Life: Excerpt, 2016 10 Smuggling, Guns, Drugs, and Violence Documents Reflections of a Smuggler, 1991 Carlos Morales: Immigrant Journey from El Salvador throughTijuana, Mexico Texas Department of Public Safety Threat Overview, 2017 11 NAFTA, Maquiladoras, and Border Economics Documents State Department on U.S. Relations with Mexico, 2017 Trump Administration Objectives for NAFTA Renegotiation, 2017 12 Dreamers and the Politics of the Border Documents Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) Testimony before Senate on DACA, January 13, 2015 Testimony of a Dreamer, Marie Nazareth Gonzalez, May 2007 Response to President Trumps Congressional Joint Address by Dreamer Astrid Silva, February 28, 2017 13 Cross-Border Spirit and Cooperation Documents Interview with Chicano Artist David Avalos, 1988 in Attacking Drug Smuggling, 2016 Postscript Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Roger Bruns is a historian and former deputy executive director of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission at the National Archives and Records Administration.

Review :
The strength of this readable text is the original documents included with each chapter, which allow students to gain experience with primary source material. This text will be especially useful for community college libraries. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and lower-division undergraduates.