For over a decade I’ve been writing about the lines that define us. Whether it’s the work we do or the communities we live in, we all create “borders” in our everyday lives. I’ve interviewed thousands of people from all walks of life to gain a better understanding of the lines we use to carve out our identities and our place in this world, whether it’s on the individual level, within a small community, or on a national scale. My work is always getting at how these lines of separation function, practically speaking, particularly in an increasingly globalized, interconnected world.
I wrote...
14 Miles: Building the Border Wall
By
D.W. Gibson
What is my book about?
In August of 2019, Donald Trump finished building his border wall—at least a portion of it. In San Diego, the Army Corps of engineers completed two years of construction on a 14-mile steel beamed barrier that extends eighteen feet high and costs a staggering $147 million. As one border patrol agent told reporters visiting the site, “It was funded and approved and it was built under his administration. It is Trump’s wall.” 14 Miles is a definitive account of all the dramatic construction, showing readers what it feels like to stand on both sides of the border looking up at the imposing and controversial barrier.
14 Miles explains not only how the wall has reshaped our landscape and countless lives but also how its shadow looms over our identity as a nation.
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The Books I Picked & Why
Border Patrol Nation: Dispatches from the Front Lines of Homeland Security
By
Todd Miller
Why this book?
Miller makes the case that border security is an issue that applies to nearly every American—even if they don’t realize it. He paints a vivid picture of how pervasive Border Patrol has become in our national culture and economy, as the largest law enforcement agency in the country with jurisdiction over two-thirds of Americans and biometric data on 250 million citizens already stored away in the agency’s surveillance database.
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Wall Disease: The Psychological Toll of Living Up Against a Border
By
Jessica Wapner
Why this book?
We know a lot about the hot-button issues surrounding borders – family separations, deportation, smuggling – but borders also have wildly underestimated psychological effects on individuals. Wapner impressively synthesizes data and research collected on the effects of border barriers from some of the most volatile regions in the world including India and Pakistan, Mexico and the U.S., and both sides of the peace lines of Northern Ireland. The mental health issues caused by militarized borders are alarming and almost entirely unrecognized in today’s world; Wapner brings these shocking and revelatory dynamics to light.
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The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border
By
Francisco Cantú
Why this book?
Melding his time as a Border Patrol agent with memories of exploring the Mexico-U.S. border region as a child with his mother, Cantú provides a dynamic mash-up of a book: one part insider account from within the agency, detailing his encounters with violent criminals as well as desperate migrants, and one part personal meditation on the border region, searching for meaning and understanding when it comes to the landscape and complicated histories of the U.S. southern border region.
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Border Hacker: A Tale of Treachery, Trafficking, and Two Friends on the Run
By
Levi Vonk
Why this book?
Vonk and Kirschner tell their riveting story of meeting on a Viacrucis Migrante – known to most as a “caravan” of migrants traveling from Central America, up through Mexico. Kirschner is a world-class hacker and his skills lead him and Vonk on an absolutely fascinating journey into the world of human traffickers, anti-government guerillas, and corrupt government officials – not to mention corrupt priests. This book will disrupt everything you thought you knew about the migrant caravans, why people decide to join these journeys, and the realities they face along the way.
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The End of the Myth: From the Frontier to the Border Wall in the Mind of America
By
Greg Grandin
Why this book?
Grandin makes a masterful argument that “frontier” is the defining American obsession, from Manifest Destiny to 21st Century capitalist imperialism. According to Grandin, it is America’s sense of an ever-expanding frontier that guides so much of our decision-making on an individualistic and national scale. His thesis gives clarity to all of the energy and enthusiasm that has gone into the idea of building an impractical, impossible 2,000-mile-long barrier along the U.S. southern border.
