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

by Sylvia Longmire

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781137278906
Publisher:	St. Martin's Press
Publication date:	04/22/2014
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Sylvia Longmire is an independent consultant, former Air Force officer and Special Agent, and a former senior intelligence analyst for the State of California. She is also frequently an expert witness in US immigration cases. Ms. Longmire has been interviewed extensively by FOX News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, ABC News, AOL News, BBC Radio, The Miami Herald, The Houston Chronicle and The San Diego Union-Tribune, among others. She is a contributing editor for Homeland Security Today magazine and Breitbart Texas, and the author of Cartel. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 Enemies at the Gate 11

2 The Guardians 29

3 The Border Fence 49

4 Technology on the Border 69

5 Border Violence Spillover 85

6 The Evolution of Cross-Border Migration 99

7 Terrorism and the Southwest Border 117

8 The Invisible Fight Against Money Laundering 135

9 Taking Matters Into Their Own Hands 151

10 The Big Business of Border Security 171

11 The Forgotten Northern Border 189

12 Conclusions: The Future of Border Security 203

Acknowledgments 213

Notes 215

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

02/03/2014
Longmire (Cartel), a national security analyst and consultant for the National Geographic’s television show Border Wars, argues for delineating a hierarchy of threats along the border: “e must focus the vast majority of our border security apparatus on preventing from even attempting to enter our country.” In a conversational tone replete with entertaining and unsettling anecdotes, Longmire introduces readers to those guarding the border, those trying to cross it, and members of nearby communities. With particular expertise on the Mexican cartels, she believes that “the fight against cartel money laundering deserves a much bigger share of the border security spotlight.” Disparaging costly walls and fences and hi-tech gadgets as ineffective and wasteful, she makes the case that no amount of machinery is more valuable than highly trained and motivated agents, whether human or canine: “There is nothing in the entire technological arsenal of the planet Earth with a sensory capability superior to Fido’s nose.” Longmire also suggests that more attention should go to the northern border, enumerating several recent incidents where terrorists and criminals crossed over from Canada. With practical suggestions for policing the borders, informed by experience on the ground, the book provides an easy, quick, energetic, and nonpartisan introduction to the subject. Agent: Diane Stockwell, Globo Libros Literary. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

A highly readable, yet comprehensive, book about US border security situation with zero political agenda - hidden or otherwise - to cloud Longmire's observations, research or judgment. In a national atmosphere of near hysteria, when it comes to "discussions" of immigration (both legal and illegal), terrorism, border control, law enforcement and the undeniable infiltration of Mexican (and other) cartels into American society, thank goodness we have a seasoned, and reasoned, voice to learn from.” —Nicholas Stein, Former Series Producer, National Geographic's Border Wars

“Sylvia Longmire's riveting book tells the stories of the people on all sides of this complex issue. It challenged everything I thought I knew about America's borders in a compassionate, fair, and fascinating way. These are the things we (citizens) need to know about our borders and how our approach and policies affect people's lives.” —Christine McKinley, Investigator on History Channel's Decoded, and author of Physics for Beautiful People

“Mesmerizing… Longmire's approach transcends political ideologies. Border Insecurity provides an excellent description of why and how, in spite of the best intentions and billions of taxpayer dollars, there are still a tremendous number of problems centered on security along our Mexican and Canadian borders.” —Robert Lee Maril, author of The Fence

“Once again, Sylvia has shown she has a hands-on understanding of the impact that Mexico's nearly decade-long war against narco-cartels and transnational crime syndicates is having on not only America's border with Mexico, but deep into America's interior. Having spent considerable time on the southwest border myself, I can attest to the accuracy and hard work that she's put into this important new exposé on the rippling effects of Mexico's drug war.” —Anthony Kimery, Executive Editor, Homeland Security Today Magazine

From the Publisher

2014-04-01
Throwing big money at the border with Mexico to build fences and buy high-tech gizmos isn't the way to achieve security, argues the author of Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug War (2011). Drawing on her extensive Air Force training in criminal investigations, counterintelligence and counterespionage, Longmire provides an insightful tour of both southern and northern borders and neighbors as she demolishes the case that illegal immigration is the United States' biggest security problem. As she demonstrates, the issue has become entwined with the Mexican drug cartels' smuggling operations; illegal immigrants now find themselves compelled under threat of death to become drug mules as part of the price of being smuggled into the U. S. Security would be much enhanced, Longmire believes, by the adoption of programs that permit those coming here to work to enter legally. Such programs would separate immigrants from the security threat originating in the drug cartels. She builds her case step by step, investigative style. First, she establishes what the border fence is, where it is and why it won't be the answer its proponents hope for. Then, she discusses different threats, including violence and crime in the border areas of the Southwestern states, terrorist organizations like al-Qaida and Hezbollah, and the drug cartels. In her view, one of the most significant contributors to the lack of security in border areas is the failure to pursue ruthlessly the crime of money laundering; money payments in the U. S. for drugs from Mexico are the lubricant for the largest part of the problem. Longmire is particularly acerbic about the bipartisan, $46 billion immigration bill produced by the Senate's "Gang of Eight" and equally critical of proposals to tie immigration reform to the achievement of border security. A compelling narrative that brings clarity to a subject shrouded in prejudice and obfuscation.

Kirkus Reviews