American Crossings

Book excerpt: US Agencies at the Mexican Border were overwhelmed in 2014 as tens of thousands of unaccompanied children arrived from Central America. Unprepared to receive migrants of this particular kind, the US government deployed troops to carry out a new border mission: the feeding, care, and housing-of this wave of children. This event highlights the complex social, economic, and political issues that arise along international borders. In American Crossings, nine scholars consider the complicated modern history of borders in the Western Hemisphere, examining them as geopolitical boundaries, key locations for internal security, spaces for international-trade, and areas where national and community identities are defined.