Vanishing Frontiers: The Forces Driving Mexico and the United States Together

by Andrew Selee

Overview

There may be no story today with a wider gap between fact and fiction than the relationship between the United States and Mexico.

Wall or no wall, deeply intertwined social, economic, business, cultural, and personal relationships mean the US-Mexico border is more like a seam than a barrier, weaving together two economies and cultures.

Mexico faces huge crime and corruption problems, but its remarkable transformation over the past two decades has made it a more educated, prosperous, and innovative nation than most Americans realize. Through portraits of business leaders, migrants, chefs, movie directors, police officers, and media and sports executives, Andrew Selee looks at this emerging Mexico, showing how it increasingly influences our daily lives in the United States in surprising ways — the jobs we do, the goods we consume, and even the new technology and entertainment we enjoy.

From the Mexican entrepreneur in Missouri who saved the US nail industry, to the city leaders who were visionary enough to build a bridge over the border fence so the people of San Diego and Tijuana could share a single international airport, to the connections between innovators in Mexico's emerging tech hub in Guadalajara and those in Silicon Valley, Mexicans and Americans together have been creating productive connections that now blur the boundaries that once separated us from each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781610398596
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	06/05/2018
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Andrew Selee is president of the Migration Policy Institute and former executive vice president of the Woodrow Wilson Center, where he founded and directed its Mexico Institute. For five years in the 1990s he lived in a shantytown in Tijuana, Mexico, helping to start a community center and home for migrant youth. In the quarter-century since, he has witnessed firsthand the dramatic transformation of this city specifically and the country as a whole. Dr. Selee writes a regular column for Mexico's largest newspaper and has written op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times.

Table of Contents

Introduction Intimate Strangers 1

1 "We Built a Bridge Across the Fence" San Diego and Tijuana Become a Single Metropolitan Area 27

2 "North America Has Become a Shared Production Platform" Trade Transforms the Mexican and American Economies 49

3 "Production Has Gone Up, Employment Has Gone Up, Investment Has Gone Up" Mexican Companies Invest in American Growth 73

4 "Creating Innovative Technology That Solves Real Problems" Innovation Networks Expand Across the Border 93

5 "We Can't Talk About US Energy Independence, but We Can Talk About Energy Independence in North America" Finding a Common Future in Energy 113

6 "We've Got a Huge Problem Here" Learning to Cooperate on Security Issues 133

7 "Turning the Cosa Nostra into the Sopranos" Americans and Mexicans Confront Organized Crime Together 153

8 "If I Were to Go Back, I'd Still Be Homesick" Migrants Reshape Communities on Both Sides of the Border 183

9 "I Now Feel Welcome in This Country" A Million Americans Move to Mexico 203

10 "A Tsunami of Mexican Talent" How Mexican Filmmakers Went Global 223

11 "We've Gone from Ethnic to Mainstream" How Mexican Influence Is Changing America from Within 245

12 Vanishing Frontiers What the Future Holds 269

Acknowledgments 285

Notes 289

Index 309

Editorial Reviews

"[A] welcome perspective on migration."—Reuters

"Engaging.... While the intractable anti-Mexican minority in the U.S. retains its power to influence elections, their leaders really ought to read this book. So should the president."—Wall Street Journal

"A painstakingly even-handed portrait of the US and Mexico at a pivotal moment."—Financial Times

"An evenhanded, reasoned contribution to an overheated discussion."—Kirkus Reviews

"Andrew Selee brilliantly chronicles the forces that have redefined our relationship with Mexico over the past quarter century, covering trade, immigration, security, and so much more. His intimate knowledge of Mexico and its people shines through as he tells the story, in a highly readable fashion, of why Mexico matters to the well-being of our nation. As our government is currently renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement, Vanishing Frontiers is a must read for all Americans, who will find it a book once started, very hard to put down."—Carla Hills, former US traderepresentative and secretary of housing and urban development

"While some politicians talk about walls, Andrew Selee tells us about the bridges that bind Mexico and the United States together. Few relationships will define our future as much as the one we have with the country next door. From energy and innovation to film and food, this book captures the many linkages that tie us together and shows why Mexico truly matters for our future."—Bill Richardson, former governor of New Mexico, US ambassadorto the United Nations, and secretary of energy

"Drawing on his deep bicultural background, Andrew Selee narrates in colorful and fascinating detail how economic integration and demographic change are blending Mexican and American societies. Given the ongoing and heated public debate about NAFTA and US-Mexican relations, this is a most timely work."—John Negroponte, former USambassador to Mexico, deputy secretary of state, and director of nationalintelligence

"In nativist times, Andrew Selee's Vanishing Frontiers is a spot on, vivid, extraordinary, ground-level view of the key players quietly building bridges between the United States and Mexico. This wide-ranging, painstakingly well-researched, and sharply written account provides a much-needed human face to grasp the seismic changes sweeping both countries. Vanishing Frontiers adds much needed context and splendid insight to today's complex conversation. Selee takes us on a personal journey and bluntly reminds us why walls are obsolete and ties inevitable. You cannot understand the future of both countries without reading Vanishing Frontiers."—Alfredo Corchado,border correspondent, Dallas Morning News, and author, Midnight in Mexico

"This beautifully crafted work is an extraordinary account of the deep and complex relationship between Mexico and the United States, sharing the same qualities as Richard Reeves' bestselling American Journey: Traveling with Tocqueville in Search of Democracy in America. Like Reeves and Tocqueville, he has travelled throughout the United States, speaking in-depth with Mexicans and Americans from all backgrounds and ages, in order to shed light on the degree to which the two countries have become integrated economically and culturally, presenting fascinating stories of successful individuals whose professions range from restaurants to film, sports to journalism, and technology to politics. Their personal experiences are woven deeply through the fabric of both societies, allowing readers to identify and clearly understand numerous trends in their deepening integration. The degree to which Selee effectively combines fascinating personal accounts with in-depth recent data revealing significant trends in the relationship will appeal to and deserves the broadest readership."—Roderic AiCamp, Philip McKennaProfessor of the Pacific Rim, Claremont McKennaCollege, and author, Politics in Mexico

"Vanishing Frontiers offers fascinating insights into the ways that ordinary people-and some extraordinary human beings-continue to shape US relations with Mexico. Outside the glare of politics, citizens of both countries are bringing their nations together in myriad ways. Selee's optimism is more than wishful thinking; it is based on years of personal observation and empirical research. And it offers a welcome corrective to the anti-Mexican rhetoric exuding from Washington DC these days."—Peter H. Smith, distinguished professor emeritus, University of California, San Diego,visiting professor, University of Denver, and author, Talons of the Eagle:Latin America, the United States, and the World

"In this fascinating collection of fact-based stories, Andrew Selee draws on his deep and personal knowledge of both the United States and Mexico to reveal to us how, underneath today's choppy waters, the strong combined currents of economy, geography, demography, and culture are inexorably driving our two countries together into a synergistic production and social platform and a closely interwoven destiny, transforming both countries along the way. This is a must read for anyone interested in learning more about an indispensable and strategic neighbor and in visualizing and harnessing the shape of things to come in North America."—Jose L. Prado, chairman and CEO, Evans Food Group, and former president, Quaker OatsNorth America

"Selee offers a timely antidote to Trump's dark vision of the bilateral relationship....he shows how deepening integration has expanded beyond economics, as lasting individual and cultural relationships have formed across the border."—Americas Quarterly

"A welcome antidote to the poisonous diatribes and factual distortions that recur in the US debate on Mexico....stimulating, well-written."—International Affairs

From the Publisher

2018-05-01
No border wall can impede an inescapable fact: Mexico and the United States are inextricably joined to one another culturally, economically, and politically.Most Americans, by Migration Policy Institute president Selee's (What Should Think Tanks Do?: A Strategic Guide to Policy Impact, 2013, etc.) account, have positive views of Mexico, Mexicans, and indeed immigrants in general. Yet, even if immigration from Mexico, legal and otherwise, has dropped substantially since 2007, there are still a sizable number of gringos who fear the southerly other—and the farther from the border, all the way to Pennsylvania Avenue, the more the fear grows. The author examines economic, political, and cultural trends that might allay their worries. In an instantly comprehensible note, Selee observes that everywhere in the country people celebrate "Taco Tuesday," even where there is no other Mexican influence to speak of, and non-Hispanic Americans love their salsa and nachos. What's more, the Mexican-owned Sigma Foods concern has captured a big chunk of market share of low-cost hot dogs after having discovered that on this side of the border, "segmenting off Latino customers" was more difficult than simply appealing to a mass market. It's not just Mexican food: Mexico's economy is growing overall in such a way that it could surpass Canada's by 2050 and thereby "become one of the top ten economies of the world." One interesting gauge, writes Selee, is the growing prevalence of Mexican filmmakers in Hollywood, as witnessed in the results of the last Oscars. It would seem ill-advised from a purely commercial point of view to alienate that audience, but the author is optimistic that even if the current administration manages to do so, the effects will be temporary, since "the forces driving Mexico and the United States together will ultimately be stronger than any decisions made by politicians in Washington, DC, or Mexico City."An evenhanded, reasoned contribution to an overheated discussion.

Kirkus Reviews