[journey stories section]
The On-Again, Off-Again Mexican Border By Jim Norris
Borders, border security, fences, electronic surveillance measures, immigrants, and undocumented immigrants are words often in the news these days. Our concern about these matters in the United States is a reflection of fears engendered partly by 9/11, partly by our current economic woes, partly by the recent election-year politics, and partly by the media’s need to have something to talk and write about. Our nation has gone through this cycle of “alien” anxiety numerous times before with immigrants from various parts of the globe. We worried about the papist Irish before the Civil War, we excluded Chinese and Japanese in the late-1800s, and we sought to secure our nation from eastern European “anarchists” prior to World War I. So, too, has concern about Mexican immigrants and the security of the border with Mexico gone through various cycles of interest, which is why I refer to it as the “on-again, off-again” border.
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