The Uses of the Border

It is a good and necessary time to discuss “American Law at the Border” to better understand and engage with the politics and laws ostensibly addressing U.S. borders. Let’s hope it is also an exercise in understanding the borders of U.S. law itself—the limits, the periphery, and the jagged edges. A discussion on American law at the border should make clear that what is considered at the margins—starting with migrant labor—is central to U.S. economic, legal, and political life. The first section of this Article will discuss the political uses of the border, beginning with the most recent example of the “border crisis” narrative. We explore the uses of the border as a prop or diversion, but also as a bridge between national economies to form a regional economic bloc. The second section illustrates what these uses of the border mean for immigrant and low-income workers in the United States and what these workers represent for the cross-border regional economic plan. The third section points toward policy lessons to engage with and address these uses of the border. To delve into the uses of the border means exposing those who benefit from the caricature of the border, from the weaponization of the border. It means unpacking actual U.S. law, policy, and actors that drive and maintain the flow of labor and capital across borders. Advancing a better understanding of these policies challenges many inaccurate notions about borders, and about people who cross those borders, that are often repeated today. It points to a broad political consensus among political actors at the highest levels on the flow of labor (working people) and capital (investments) across borders. Finally, it entails expanding the aperture of any debate on cross-border policy and migration, making it clear that the impact of U.S. border policies on working people goes far beyond the geographic region of the U.S.-Mexico border.