Border Time: Policing Movement in the Rio Grande Valley

Abstract: The southern border of the United States has been policed intensively for over half a century. Donald Trump and many other global political leaders have narrowed their policy focuses from bordering more generally to building walls. Even short trips to the US-Mexico border make clear that the wall is not a continuous integrated structure. On the contrary, the wall is fragmented by design. Attending to the materialization of the wall, to the bits and pieces, puts the question: How is political authority operating here? Rather than assuming fragmentation to be a sign of weakness, I suggest we shift in analysis of border policing from space to time. I draw evidence from government documents, site visits, and photographs.