Borderline: Defending the Home Front

by Vincent Vargas, Jocko Willink (Foreword by)

Overview

An inside look at the U.S.-Mexico border through the eyes of former U.S. Border Patrol agent, Vincent Vargas, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan with the U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment.

Featuring a Foreword by #1 New York Times bestselling author Jocko Willink.

The U.S.-Mexico border stretches nearly two thousand miles and is protected by a thin line of overworked and underfunded U.S. Border Patrol Agents who risk their lives every day. They are stigmatized in the media and fought over in the halls of Washington D.C., and Borderline shares their story: the truth of what is really happening on the U.S.-Mexico border.

The story begins on the battlefields of the Middle East and culminates on the southwest border of the United States, where Vargas was tasked with protecting his country, his fellow agents, and the immigrants caught in the middle. He learned firsthand about the unforgiving brutality of the cartels, human traffickers, and the desert.

After bearing witness to the carnage, Vargas made the decision to join the Border Patrol’s elite search-and-rescue unit called BORSTAR.

With almost unfettered access, Vargas provides an in-depth, never-before-seen look into the U.S. Border Patrol, from the agency’s origins to its present-day missions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250285577
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	11/14/2023
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	217,855
Product dimensions:	5.60(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

VINCENT VARGAS was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. After 4-years of active-duty in the United States Army, serving 3 combat deployments with 2nd Battalion of the elite 75th Ranger Regiment, he joined the U.S. Army Reserves, where he continues to serve as a drill sergeant. In 2009, he became a Federal Agent with the Department of Homeland Security and served as a Medic with the Special Operations Group.

Vargas is a successful entrepreneur, actor, writer, producer and currently stars on the hit FX Show, Mayans MC. He is also a motivational speaker that focuses on leadership, military transitioning and motivating youth.

Vincent Vargas is happily married with 7 kids and resides in Salt Lake City, Utah.

JOCKO WILLINK was a Navy SEAL for 20 years, rising through the ranks to become commander of Task Unit Bruiser—the most decorated Special Operations unit of the Iraq War. After retiring, Willink continued on the disciplined path of success, co-founding Echelon Front, a premier leadership and management consulting company, writing the #1 New York Times bestsellers Extreme Ownership, Leadership Strategy and Tactics, Discipline Equals Freedom, and The Way of the Warrior Kid children’s series. He also created and hosts the top-rated podcast, JOCKO PODCAST.

Editorial Reviews

2023-10-13
A retired veteran’s laudatory look at the culture and history of the U.S. Border Patrol.

In his debut, Vargas combines memoir with an overview of the Border Patrol’s tactics and training and the misunderstandings the agency’s mission provokes. “Border Patrol agents are not ‘rogue cowboys’ doing whatever they want to at the border,” he writes. “Rather, they are individuals charged with holding the line while leveraging their extensive training and long apprenticeship.” Of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, the author grew up near the southern border in California. As a child, he was aware of the long-simmering migration crisis, later joining the military and becoming an Army Ranger. Noting his determination to continue in government service, “I wouldn’t have signed up if I wasn’t willing to protect others by sacrificing myself.” Vargas passionately pursued the Border Patrol’s rigorous requirements for achieving Journeyman status, and he also sought to join one of their lesser-known elite tactical units, BORSTAR, a trauma-response unit created in 1998 “in response to the growing number of injuries to Border Patrol agents and migrant deaths along our nation’s borders.” He wanted to address a lack of integration between these specialized teams: “The basic question was this: Should I go tactical or medical?” Vargas bolters his account with the recollections of other agents, including his teams’ takedown of the Uvalde school shooter in 2022: “Border Patrol agents were the ones who finally brought it to an end and likely saved many lives.” Vargas writes empathetically about the plight of beleaguered migrants, emphasizing the violence and human toll beneath the controversy. While the author’s discussion of the border’s grim social tableau is often balanced, his defensive tone may grow tiresome to some readers.

Containing a useful insider’s perspective regarding the border crisis, this book will appeal to fans of military memoirs.

Kirkus Reviews

We take our borders for granted—but we shouldn’t. People serve and sacrifice every day, in the harshest of environments, facing dynamic situations, with little or no back up. These people are our Border Patrol—and Borderline is their story.” —Jocko Willink, #1 Bestselling Author

"Guarding the borders of the United States, and thereby protecting the citizenry, falls to a relatively small and often misunderstood federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Customs and Border Protection, more commonly referred to as the Border Patrol, is the country’s first line of defense. It is comprised of dedicated Americans who put their lives on the line while being maligned in the press and by politicians with agendas at odds with the safety and security of the very constituents they represent. That rhetoric and those policies put the lives of the brave men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol in greater danger, yet they get up each day to hold the line for us all. Powerful, insightful, and thought-provoking, Borderline by Vincent Vargas is a must read for every American. Before you make a snap judgement about the Border Patrol based on a sound bite, take the time to understand the agency and get to know those who are charged with protecting the nation through the pages of Borderline." —Jack Carr, former Navy SEAL Sniper, host of the Danger Close Podcast, and #1 New York Times bestselling author of the James Reece Terminal List series

"Vargas writes empathetically about the plight of beleaguered migrants, emphasizing the violence and human toll beneath the controversy...a useful insider’s perspective regarding the border crisis." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher