Border Insecurity Why Big Money, Fences, and Drones Aren't Making Us Safer

by Longmire, Sylvia

• ISBN13: 9781137278906
• ISBN10: 1137278900
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2014-04-22
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

When confronted with the challenges of border security and illegal immigration, government officials are fond of saying that our borders have never been as safe and secure as they are now. But ranchers in the borderlands of Arizona and Texas fear for their lands, their cattle, their homes, and sometimes their lives due to the human and drug smuggling traffic that regularly crosses their property. Who is right? What does a secure border actually look like? More importantly, is a secure border a realistic goal for the United States? Border Insecurity examines all the aspects of the challenge—and thriving industry—of trying to keep terrorists, drug smugglers, and illegal immigrants from entering the United States across our land borders. It looks at on-the-ground issues and controversies like the border fence, the usefulness of technology, shifts in the connection between illegal immigration and drug smuggling, and the potential for terrorists and drug cartels to work together. Border Insecurity also delves into how the border debate itself is part of why the government has failed to improve information sharing and why this is necessary to establish a clear and comprehensive border security strategy.

Author Biography

Sylvia Longmire is an independent consultant, and testifies as an expert witness on US asylum cases. She has been interviewed extensively by Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, AOL News, BBC Radio, The Miami Herald, The Houston Chronicle and The San Diego Union-Tribune, among others. She contributed to Glenn Beck’s Cowards, and her first book, Cartel, was nominated for a Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She lives in Tuscon, Arizona.