Making the subterranean visible : security, tunnels, and the United States–Mexico border

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The number of unauthorized tunnels discovered through the U.S.–Mexico border has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s. These tunnels are problematic for the state because the subterranean border is both less visible and more difficult to monitor and control than is the surface border. As a result, the need to demonstrate security success at both the national and the agency level has risen. Efforts to make tunnel discoveries (and security) visible are made within border-security agencies and within national discourse and legislation. These efforts spatially fix tunnels to the border in ways that obscure fuller a understanding of drug trafficking in general. This paper employs archival research, content analysis, and informal interviews with security-enforcement agents to consider the material presence of tunnels within border landscapes.


Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Geographical review, issn : 0016-7428, 2014, vol. 104, n°. 3, p. 328-345, nombre de pages : 18, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2014

Editeur :
Pays édition : Etats-Unis, New York, NY, American Geographical Society