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{{Short description|International border in North America}}
{{For|the physical barrier separating the two countries|Mexico–United States border wall{{!}}Mexico–United States barrier}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=
{{Infobox border
| name = Mexico–United States border
| alt =
| caption = The border between [[Mexico]] and the [[United States]] spans six Mexican states and four U.S. states.
| territory1 = {{MEX}}
| territory2 = <br>{{USA}}
| length = {{convert|3145|km|sp=us}}
| enclaves =
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| notes =
}}
[[File:Border USA Mexico.jpg|thumb|
[[File:Plaque at Mexico United States border.svg|thumb|
{{Mexico–United States border map|collapse=y}}
The '''Mexico–United States border''' ({{lang-es|frontera Estados Unidos–México}}) is an [[
The total length of the continental border is {{convert|3,145|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}}. From the Gulf of Mexico, it follows the course of the [[Rio Grande|Rio Grande (Río Bravo del Norte)]] to the border crossing at [[Ciudad Juárez|Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua]], and [[El Paso, Texas]]. Westward from [[El Paso–Juárez]], it crosses vast tracts of the [[Chihuahuan Desert|Chihuahuan]] and [[Sonoran Desert|Sonoran]] deserts to the [[Colorado River Delta]] and [[San Diego–Tijuana]], before reaching the Pacific Ocean.<ref name="us-ibwc-about">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ibwc.gov/About_Us/about_us.html |title=
Four American states border Mexico: [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]] and [[Texas]]. One definition of [[Northern Mexico]] includes only the six Mexican states that border the U.S.: [[Baja California]], [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], [[Coahuila]], [[Nuevo León]], [[Sonora]] and [[Tamaulipas]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DDre5B1lLcC&pg=PA175|title=Consuming Mexican Labor: From the Bracero Program to NAFTA|last1=Mize|first1=Ronald L.|last2=Swords|first2=Alicia C. S.|date=2010|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=
==Geography==
[[File:Algodones sand-dune-fence.jpg|thumb|right
The Mexico–United States border extends {{convert|3,145|km|mi|abbr=off|sp=us}}, in addition to the maritime boundaries of {{convert|29|km|mi|abbr=on}} into the [[Pacific Ocean]] and {{convert|19|km|mi|abbr=on}} into the [[Gulf of Mexico]].<ref name="1970BT">{{cite web|url=http://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/bi-51757.pdf|title=Treaty to Resolve Pending Boundary Differences and Maintain the Rio Grande and Colorado River as the International Boundary between the United States of America and México|date=November 23, 1970|access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref><ref name="ssrn">{{cite journal|last=McCarthy|first=Robert J.|date=Spring 2011|title=Executive Authority, Adaptive Treaty Interpretation, and the International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S.–Mexico|journal=Water Law Review|pages=3–5|ssrn=1839903}}</ref> It is the tenth-longest border between two countries in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/countries-with-the-longest-land-borders.html|title=Countries With the Longest Land Borders|website=WorldAtlas|date=August 2019|language=en|access-date=November 1, 2019}}</ref>
The Mexico–U.S. border begins at the [[Initial Point of Boundary Between U.S. and Mexico]], which is set one marine league (three [[nautical mile]]s) south of the southernmost point of [[San Diego Bay]]. The border then proceeds for {{convert|227|km|mi|abbr=on}} in a straight line towards the confluence of the [[Colorado River]] and [[Gila River]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sandiegohistory.org/journal/v54-1/pdf/Levanetz.pdf|title=A Compromised Country: Redefining the U.S.-Mexico Border|last=Levanetz|first=Joel|website=San Diego History Center|access-date=
According to the [[International Boundary and Water Commission]],<ref
The [[U.S. state]]s along the border, from west to east, are [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], and [[Texas]]. The [[Administrative divisions of Mexico|Mexican states]] along the border are [[Baja California]], [[Sonora]], [[Chihuahua (state)|Chihuahua]], [[Coahuila]], [[Nuevo León]], and [[Tamaulipas]]. Among the U.S. states, Texas has the longest stretch of the border with Mexico, while California has the shortest. Among the states in Mexico, Chihuahua has the longest border with the U.S., while Nuevo León has the shortest. Along the border are 23 [[County (United States)|U.S. counties]] and 39 [[Municipalities of Mexico|Mexican municipalities]].
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=== Prior to the Mexican–American War ===
[[File:Mapa Mexico 1842.PNG|thumb|left|
In the mid-16th century, after the discovery of silver, settlers from various countries and backgrounds began to arrive in the area. This period of sparse settlement included colonizers from different backgrounds. The area was part of [[New Spain]]. In the early 19th century, the U.S. bought the lands known as the [[Louisiana Purchase]] from [[France]] and began to expand steadily westward.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/troublesomeborde00osca_0|url-access=registration|title=Troublesome Border|last=Martínez|first=Oscar J.|publisher=University of Arizona Press|year=1988|isbn=978-
After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, the border between the U.S. and New Spain was not clearly defined. The border was established in the 1819 [[Adams–Onís Treaty]] between the U.S. and Spain, which specified a border in the vicinity of the western edge of the [[Mississippi River]] watershed. Mexico [[Mexican War of Independence|gained its independence]] from Spain, and the border was reaffirmed in the 1828 [[Treaty of Limits (Mexico–United States)|Treaty of Limits]].
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The constant conflicts in the Texas region in the mid-19th century eventually led to the [[Mexican–American War]], which began in 1846 and ended in 1848 with the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]]. In the terms of the peace treaty, Mexico lost more than {{convert|2,500,000|sqkm|sqmi|abbr=|sp=us}} of land, 55%<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=26|title=Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo|year=1848|website=Ourdocuments.gov|access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref> of its territory, including all of what is today [[California]], [[Arizona]], [[New Mexico]], [[Utah]], [[Nevada]] and parts of what is [[Colorado]], [[Wyoming]], [[Kansas]], and [[Oklahoma]]. In addition, all disputes over Texas and the disputed territory between Rio Grande and [[Rio Nueces]] were abandoned.
Five years later, the [[Gadsden Purchase]] completed the creation of the current U.S.–Mexico border. The purchase was initially to accommodate a planned [[Transcontinental railroad|railway right-of-way]]. These purchases left approximately 300,000 people living in the once disputed lands, many of whom were Mexican nationals. Following the establishment of the current border, several towns sprang up along this boundary, and many of the Mexican citizens were given free land in the northern regions of Mexico in exchange for returning and repopulating the area.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Late Great Mexican Border: Reports from a Disappearing Line|publisher=Cinco Puntos Press|year=1996|isbn=978-
=== Later history ===
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[[File:ISS067-E-174541 El Paso and Juárez.jpg|thumb|[[El Paso, Texas]] (left) and [[Ciudad Juárez]], Chihuahua (right), taken on June 30, 2022, from the [[International Space Station]] with north oriented towards the bottom-left side. The Rio Grande appears as a thin line separating the two cities through the middle of the photograph. El Paso and Juarez make up the third largest U.S. international metroplex after [[Detroit–Windsor]] and [[San Diego–Tijuana]].]]
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and another treaty in 1884 were the agreements originally responsible for the settlement of the international border, both of which specified that the middle of the Rio Grande was the border, irrespective of any alterations in the channels or banks. The Rio Grande shifted south between 1852 and 1868, with the most radical shift in the river occurring after a flood in 1864. By 1873 the moving river-center border had cut off approximately {{convert|2.4|km2|acres|abbr=|sp=us}} of Mexican territory in the El Paso-Juarez area, in effect transferring the land to the U.S.. By a treaty negotiated in 1963, Mexico regained most of this land in what became known as the [[Chamizal dispute]] and transferred {{convert|1.07|km2|acres|abbr=on}} in return to the U.S. Border treaties are jointly administered by the [[International Boundary and Water Commission]] (IBWC), which was established in 1889 to maintain the border, allocate river waters between the two nations, and provide for flood control and water sanitation. Once viewed as a model of international cooperation, in recent decades the IBWC has been heavily criticized as an institutional anachronism, by-passed by modern social, environmental and political issues.<ref name="ssrn" /> In particular, jurisdictional issues regarding [[water right]]s in the [[Rio Grande Valley (Texas)|Rio Grande Valley]] have continued to cause tension between farmers along the border, according to Mexican political scientist [[Armand Peschard-Sverdrup]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Peschard-Sverdrup |first1=Armand |title=U.S.-Mexico Transboundary Water Management: The Case of the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo |year=2003 |publisher=Center for Strategic & International Studies |isbn=978-
The economic development of the border region on the Mexican side of the border depended largely on its proximity to the U.S., because of its remoteness from commercial centers in Mexico. During the years of Mexican President [[Porfirio Díaz]], between 1876 and 1910, the border communities boomed because of close ties to the U.S. and the Mexican government's support for financial investments from the U.S.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195112283/page/433|title=Oxford History of Mexico|last=Hart|first=John M.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2000|isbn=978-
[[File:Border barrier near IBM 9.JPG|thumb|left|Vehicle barrier in the New Mexico desert, 2010]]
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The [[Mexican Revolution]], caused at least partially by animosity toward foreign ownership of Mexican properties, began in 1910. The revolution increased the political instability in Mexico but did not significantly slow U.S. investment. It did reduce economic development within Mexico, however, and the border regions reflected this. As the infrastructure of communities on the U.S. side continued to improve, the Mexican side began to fall behind in the construction and maintenance of important transportation networks and systems necessary to municipal development.<ref name="Lorey, David E 1999" />
Although the Mexican Revolution caused insecurity in Mexico, it also strained U.S.–Mexico relations. With the Mexican Revolution lasting for 10 years, ending in 1920, and World War I simultaneously occurring between 1914 and 1918, the division between the U.S. and Mexico began to polarize the two nations. [[Mexican Border War (1910–1919)|Constant battles and raids along the border]] made both authorities nervous about borderland security. The [[Zimmermann Telegram|Zimmerman Telegram]], a diplomatic cable sent by Germany but intercepted and decrypted by British intelligence, was meant to bait Mexico into war with the U.S. in order to reconquer what was taken from them during the Mexican-American War. This inspired the U.S. [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] to monitor suspicious activities and potential violence at the border.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sherman|first=John W.|date=Fall 2016|title=Fascist 'Gold Shirts' on the Río Grande: Borderlands Intrigue in the Time of Lázaro Cárdenas<!-- |disabled url, this link is utterly useless for anyone not inside byu. url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=20&sid=bfddb08a-48ad-4e62-9fcf-0656cd14af09%40sdc-v-sessmgr01-->|journal=Journal of South Texas|volume=30|pages=8–21}}</ref> Within 10 years, frequent provocations caused border towns to transform into battlefields, which intensified transborder restrictions, brought federal soldiers to patrol the border, and caused the construction of fences and barriers between border towns. When the battles concluded, restrictions for crossing the border were relaxed and most soldiers were sent home; however, the fences remained as a physical reminder of the division between the two nations. As years passed, more fences and higher barriers were established as attentions focused on the boundary demarcation between the U.S. and Mexico.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border|url=https://archive.org/details/linesandhistoryw00john|url-access=limited|last=St. John|first=Rachel|publisher=Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press|year=2011|isbn=978-
The first international bridge was the [[Brownsville & Matamoros International Bridge]] built in 1910. The first barrier built by the U.S. was between 1909 and 1911 in California, the first barrier built by Mexico was likely in 1918; barriers were extended in the 1920s and 1940s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=John |first1=Rachel St |title=The Raging Controversy at the Border Began With This Incident 100 Years Ago |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/raging-controversy-border-began-100-years-ago-180969343/ |website=Smithsonian Magazine |language=en}}</ref>
The [[Banco Convention of 1905]] between the U.S. and Mexico allowed, in the event of sudden changes in the course of the Rio Grande (as by flooding), for the border to be altered to follow the new course.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Convention_of_1905.pdf |title=Convention Between the United States and Mexico for the Elimination of the Bancos in the Rio Grande from the Effects of Article II of the Treaty of November 12, 1884 |date=June 5, 1907 |access-date=April 19, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151009042029/http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Convention_of_1905.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2015 }}</ref> The sudden changes often created ''bancos'' (land surrounded by bends in the river that became segregated from either country by a cutoff, often caused by rapid accretion or avulsion of the alluvial channel), especially in the lower Rio Grande Valley. When these bancos are created, the [[International Boundary and Water Commission]] investigates if land previously belonging to the U.S. or Mexico is to be considered on the other side of the border.<ref>{{cite web |last=Metz |first=Leon C. |date=June 12, 2010 |title=Bancos of the Rio Grande |url=https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rnb08 |work=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=July 13, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161027194705/https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rnb08%29 |archive-date=October 27, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In all cases of these adjustments along the Rio Grande under the 1905 convention, which occurred on 37 different dates from 1910 to 1976, the transferred land was small (ranging from one to 646 acres) and uninhabited.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ibwc.gov/Treaties_Minutes/Minutes.html | title=IBWC Minutes | publisher=[[International Boundary and Water Commission]] | access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zTEHCtUumBXk.k-ueCthwuSNs | title=USA-Mexico Bancos Map | access-date=September 11, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Restless River, International Law and the Behavior of the Rio Grande |publisher=Texas Western Press |author=Mueller, Jerry E. |year=1975 |page=64 |isbn=978-
The Rio Grande Rectification Treaty of 1933 straightened and stabilized the river boundary through the highly developed El Paso-Juárez valley. Numerous parcels of land were transferred between the two countries during the construction period, 1935–1938. At the end, each nation had ceded an equal area of land to the other.<ref>{{cite web|title=Minutes 144|url=http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Minutes/Min144.pdf|author=International Boundary and Water Commission|access-date=
The [[Boundary Treaty of 1970]] transferred an area of Mexican territory to the U.S., near [[Presidio, Texas|Presidio]] and [[Hidalgo, Texas]], to build flood control channels. In exchange, the U.S. ceded other land to Mexico, including five parcels near Presidio, the [[Horcón Tract|Horcon Tract]] and Beaver Island near [[Roma, Texas]]. On November 24, 2009, the U.S. ceded 6 islands in the Rio Grande to Mexico. At the same time, Mexico ceded 3 islands and 2 bancos to the U.S. This transfer, which had been pending for 20 years, was the first application of Article III of the 1970 Boundary Treaty.<ref name="maritime">{{cite web | url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/e/oes/ocns/opa/c28187.htm | title=Maritime Boundaries | publisher=United States Department of State | access-date=August 19, 2018}}</ref><ref name="bancos">{{cite web|url=http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Treaties_Minutes/Minutes.html |title=Minutes between the United States and Mexican Sections of the IBWC |publisher=[[International Boundary and Water Commission]] |access-date=January 6, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713015418/http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Treaties_Minutes/Minutes.html |archive-date=July 13, 2015 }}</ref><ref name="minute315">{{cite web |url=http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Minutes/Joint_Report_315.pdf |title=Minute 315: Adoption of the Delineation of the International Boundary on the 2008 Aerial Photographic Mosaic of the Rio Grande |publisher=[[International Boundary and Water Commission]] |date=November 24, 2009 |access-date=June 13, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411202233/http://www.ibwc.state.gov/Files/Minutes/Joint_Report_315.pdf |archive-date=April 11, 2016 }}</ref>
On March 27, 2023, at least 38 detained migrants (mostly from Central America) were killed—and dozens more injured—in [[Ciudad Juárez migrant center fire|a fire]] started in protest inside a locked and crowded detention center cell in northern Mexico, with motives ranging from pending deportation to overcrowding and lack of access to drinking water.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Linthicum |first1=Kate |last2=McDonnell |first2=Patrick J. |last3=Minjares |first3=Gabriela |date=March 28, 2023
==Border crossing checkpoints==
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}}
[[File:Borderwallbrownsvile.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Climbing the [[Mexico–United States barrier]] fence in [[Brownsville, Texas]]]]
The border separating Mexico and the U.S. is the most frequently crossed international boundary in the world,<ref name="BGTG">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hknZxFWtWnQC&pg=PA75|title=Retirement Without Borders: How to Retire Abroad{{snd}}in Mexico, France, Italy, Spain, Costa Rica, Panama, and Other Sunny, Foreign Places|last=Golson|first=Barry|publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]|year=2008|isbn=978-0-7432-9701-1|location=New York, New York|page=75|author2=Thia Golson|access-date=March 9, 2011}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aHYt0RNSDfgC&q=most%20frequently%20crossed%20border%20guinness&pg=PA457|title=Guinness World Records 2009|last=Glenday|first=Craig|publisher=Random House Digital, Inc.|year=2009|isbn=978-0-553-59256-6|page=457|access-date=March 9, 2011}}</ref> with approximately 350 million legal crossings taking place annually.<ref name="BGTG" /><ref name="google.com">{{cite news |title=US, Mexico open first new border crossing in 10 years |location=Washington |url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHLM81sN-H02Sf1CANZvBoE9mUwA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228012612/https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jHLM81sN-H02Sf1CANZvBoE9mUwA |archive-date=February 28, 2014 |newspaper=[[Agence France-Presse|AFP]] |date=January 12, 2010 |access-date=December 3, 2012 |quote=The US–Mexico border is the busiest in the world, with approximately 350 million crossings per year. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nmsu.edu/~bec/BEC/Readings/10.USMBHC-TheBorderAtAGlance.pdf |title=The United States–Mexico Border Region at a Glance |website=United States–Mexico Border Health Commission |publisher=New Mexico State University |access-date=December 3, 2012 |quote=In 2001, over 300 million two-way border crossings took place at the 43 POEs. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915105245/http://www.nmsu.edu/~bec/BEC/Readings/10.USMBHC-TheBorderAtAGlance.pdf |archive-date=September 15, 2012 }}</ref>
[[File:Bridge of the Americas (El Paso–Ciudad Juárez), June 2016.jpg|thumb|right|Going into Mexico from El Paso, Texas, U.S.]]
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[[File:CBP San Diego Operations - San Ysidro (28555925151).jpg|thumb|left|[[San Ysidro Port of Entry]] through vehicle]]
The [[San Ysidro Port of Entry]] is located between [[San Ysidro, San Diego|San Ysidro, California]] and [[Tijuana|Tijuana, Baja California]]. Approximately 50,000 vehicles and 25,000 pedestrians use this entry daily.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/magazine/gallery/2017/02/photo-gallery-san-ysidro-california-us-mexico-border-000710?slide=0|title=A Day at the Busiest Border Crossing in the World|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=February 16, 2017 |language=en|access-date=
It has influenced the every day lifestyle of people that live in these [[border town]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/08/world/americas/before-the-wall-life-along-the-us-mexico-border.html|title=Before the Wall: Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border|last=Ahmed|first=Azam|newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 8, 2017 |access-date=
▲It has influenced the every day lifestyle of people that live in these [[border town]]s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/02/08/world/americas/before-the-wall-life-along-the-us-mexico-border.html|title=Before the Wall: Life Along the U.S.-Mexico Border|last=Ahmed|first=Azam|newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 8, 2017 |access-date=2018-07-27|language=en}}</ref> Along the coast of Baja California, there are neighborhoods of Americans living in Tijuana, [[Rosarito Beach]], and [[Ensenada, Baja California|Ensenada]], whose residents commute to the U.S. daily to work.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Yogerst|first1=Joe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fk3uzf9zSwAC&pg=PA341|title=Traveler's Companion California|last2=Mellin|first2=Maribeth|date=2002|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=978-0762722037|page=341|access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref> Additionally, many Mexicans also enter the U.S. to commute daily to work.<ref>{{cite book|last=Levine|first=Robert N.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IXq7CdAiQOQC&pg=PA190|title=A Geography Of Time: On Tempo, Culture, And The Pace Of Life|date=2008|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0786722532|page=190|access-date=September 8, 2014}}</ref> In 1999, 7.6% of the labor force of Tijuana was employed in San Diego.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Mendoza|first1=Cristobal|title=Transboundary Policy Challenges in the Pacific Border Regions of North America|last2=Loucky|first2=James|date=2008|publisher=University of Calgary Press|isbn=978-1552382233|editor-last1=Alper|editor-first=Donald K.|page=55|chapter=Recent Trends in Mexico-U.S. Border Demographics|editor-last2=Day|editor-first2=John Chadwick|editor-last3=Loucky|editor-first3=James|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KDc2r0SC5PIC&pg=PA55}}</ref>
[[File:San Diego San Ysidro 01.jpg|thumb|Entrance to Mexico from San Diego, California, United States of America]]
The average wait time to cross into the U.S. is approximately an hour.<ref name="MESA" /> The thousands of vehicles that transit through the border every day is causing air pollution in San Ysidro and Tijuana.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/science-environment/san-ysidro-is-getting-a-clearer-look-at-just-how-polluted-it-is/|title=San Ysidro Is Getting a Clearer Look at Just How Polluted it is|date=
The San Ysidro border is heavily policed, separated by three walls, [[United States Border Patrol|border patrol]] agents and the [[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2011/06/24/the-worlds-most-dangerous-borders/|title=The World's Most Dangerous Borders|website=Foreign Policy|date=June 24, 2011 |language=en|access-date=
Tijuana is the next target for San Diegan developers because of its fast-growing economy, lower cost of living, cheap prices and proximity to San Diego.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.expatistan.com/cost-of-living/tijuana|title=Cost of Living in Tijuana, Mexico. Jul 2018 prices in Tijuana.|website=Expatistan, cost of living comparisons|language=en|access-date=
===Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative===
{{main|Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative}}
[[Image:SanYsidroBorderCrossing.JPG|thumb|left|The San Ysidro border crossing between [[San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area|San Diego and Tijuana]]]]
In late 2006, the [[U.S. Department of Homeland Security]] (DHS) announced a rule regarding new identification requirements for U.S. citizens and international travelers entering the U.S. implemented on January 23, 2007. This final rule and first phase of the WHTI specifies nine forms of identification, one of which is required to enter the U.S. by air: a valid [[passport]]; a [[United States Passport Card|passport card]]; a state [[Driver's licenses in the United States#Enhanced driver's licenses|enhanced driver's license]] or state enhanced non-driver ID card (available in [[Michigan]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Vermont]], and [[Washington (state)|Washington]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/lang_eng/eng_edl.html|title=WHTI: Enhanced Drivers License|website=Getyouhome.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215123453/http://www.getyouhome.gov/html/lang_eng/eng_edl.html|archive-date=February 15, 2012|url-status=dead|access-date=
Form I-872 – American Indian Card; a valid Merchant Mariner Document when traveling in conjunction with official maritime business; or a valid U.S. military identification card when traveling on official orders.<ref>{{Citation|title=DHS Announces Final Western Hemisphere Air Travel|date=December 5, 2006|url=http://www.acte.org/resources/view_article.php?id=105|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216073223/http://www.acte.org/resources/view_article.php?id=105|url-status=dead|publisher=Association of Cotpotrate Travel Executives|access-date=December 2, 2007|archive-date=December 16, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative: The Basics|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/crossingborders/whtibasics.shtm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071226044426/https://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/crossingborders/whtibasics.shtm|url-status=dead|publisher=U.S. Department of Homeland Security|access-date=December 2, 2007|archive-date=December 26, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative|date=January 13, 2008|url=https://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070125092329/http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html|url-status=dead|publisher=U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs|access-date=January 12, 2007|archive-date=January 25, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nmborder.com/travel_usa.html|title=Traveling to USA?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040911062821/http://www.nmborder.com/travel_usa.html|archive-date=September 11, 2004|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In August
===Veterinary inspections===
[[File:Mexico Baja California passport stamp.jpg|
When animals are imported from one country to another, there is the possibility that diseases and parasites can move with them. Thus, most countries impose animal health regulations on the import of animals. Most animals imported to the U.S. must be accompanied by import permits obtained in advance from the [[United States Department of Agriculture|U.S. Department of Agriculture]]'s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and/or health certification papers from the country of origin.
Veterinary inspections are often required, and are available only at designated ports;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/portlist.html|title=Ports Designated for the Importation of Animals|publisher=Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070202135654/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/portlist.html|archive-date=February 2, 2007|access-date=October 5, 2011}}
</ref> advance contact with port veterinarians is recommended.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/portvet.html|title=Port Veterinarian List|publisher=Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209004821/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/vs/ncie/portvet.html|archive-date=December 9, 2006|access-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref> Animals crossing the U.S.–Mexico border may have a country of origin other than the country where they present for inspection. Such animals include those from the U.S. that cross to Mexico and return, and animals from other countries that travel overland through Mexico or the U.S. before crossing the border.
[[File:Tijuana Border Traffic.jpg|thumb|left|Thousands of cars sit from fifteen minutes to two hours waiting to cross the border.<ref name="MESA">{{Cite news|url=http://www.otaymesa.org/border-waiting/|title=Border Wait Times and Border Crossing Statistics |work=otaymesa.org|access-date= APHIS imposes precautions to keep out several equine diseases, including [[glanders]], [[Covering sickness|dourine]], [[equine infectious anemia]], [[Babesiosis|equine piroplasmosis]], [[Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus|Venezuelan equine encephalitis]], and [[contagious equine metritis]].<ref name="APHIS1997">{{cite web|url=http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps3025/imphorse.html|title=Equine Importation|publisher=Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101017004412/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/import_export/animals/animal_import/equine/equine_import_quarantine.shtml|archive-date=October 17, 2010|access-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref> APHIS also checks horses to prevent the introduction of [[tick]]s and other parasites. In the Lower Rio Grande Valley, U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors look for horses and livestock that stray across the border carrying ticks. These animals are often called wetstock, and the inspectors are referred to as tickriders.<ref name="Miller2000">{{cite book |last=Miller |first=Tom |title=On the Border: Portraits of America's Southwestern Frontier |publisher=iUniverse |year=2000 |isbn=
Per APHIS, horses originating from Canada can enter the U.S. with a Canadian government veterinary health certificate and a negative test for EIA.<ref name="APHIS1997" /> Horses from Mexico must have a health certificate; pass negative tests for EIA, dourine, glanders, and EP at a USDA import center; and undergo precautionary treatments for external parasites at the port of entry. Horses from other Western Hemisphere countries must have the same tests as those from Mexico and, except for horses from [[Argentina]], must be held in quarantine for at least seven days as a check for VEE.
APHIS imposes similar testing and certification requirements on horses from other parts of the world but without the quarantine for VEE. These horses are held in quarantine—usually three days—or until tests are completed. Because the disease equine piroplasmosis (equine [[babesiosis]]) is endemic in Mexico but not established in the U.S.,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ca.uky.edu/gluck/q/2003/oct03/q_main.htm|title=Veterinary Science|website=Ca.uky.edu|access-date=
Import from the U.S. to Mexico requires evidence within the prior 45 days of freedom from EIA, among other requirements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aphis.usda.gov/NCIE/iregs/animals/mx_eq_040406.pdf|title=Import health requirements of Mexico for horses (non slaughter) exported from the United States|date=December 2005|publisher=Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090419233214/http://www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/vs/iregs/animals/downloads/mx_eq.pdf|archive-date=April 19, 2009|access-date=October 5, 2011}}</ref>
==
===Background===
[[File:Canyon, Rio Grande, Texas.jpeg|thumb|right|The [[Big Bend National Park]] is located at the border.]]
Data from the U.S. Border Patrol Agency's 2010 annual report shows that among the total number of border crossings without documentation from various countries into the U.S., 90% were from Mexico alone. In addition, there are more than 6 million undocumented Mexican nationals residing in the U.S.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.nap.edu/read/13498/chapter/1#ii|title=Options for Estimating Illegal Entries at the U.S.–Mexico Border The National Academies Press|publisher=The National Academies Press|year=2013|isbn=978-
In 2010, President [[Barack Obama]] signed an [[appropriation bill]] which gave the [[U.S. Customs and Border Protection|Customs and Border Protection]], specifically the Border Patrol, 600 million dollars to implement and improve security. The U.S. government has invested many millions of dollars on [[United States border security concerns|border security]], although this has not stopped undocumented immigration in the U.S.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Martínez|first1=Ruben|title=Fortress America|journal=Index on Censorship|date=2004|volume=33|issue=3|pages=48–52|doi=10.1080/03064220408537373|s2cid=220990170}}</ref> In June 2018, the U.S. government announced installation of [[facial recognition system]] for monitoring immigrant activities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/jun/05/facial-recognition-us-mexico-border-crossing|title=US government to use facial recognition technology at Mexico border crossing|last=Levin|first=Sam|date=June 5, 2018
=== Border enforcement ===
{{See also|Illegal immigration to the United States}}
[[File:South Texas, Border Patrol Agents, McAllen Horse Patrol Unit.jpg|thumb|left|[[United States Border Patrol|Border Patrol]] agents in southern Texas in 2013]]
The Border Patrol was created in 1924 with its primary mission to detect and prevent the illegal entry of immigrants into the U.S. Together with other law enforcement officers, the Border Patrol maintains the U.S.' borderlands—regulating the flow of legal immigration and goods while patrolling for undocumented migrants and trafficking of people and contraband. The present strategy to enforce migration along the U.S.–Mexico border is by the means of "prevention through deterrence". Its primary goal is to completely prevent undocumented immigrants from entering the U.S. from Mexico rather than apprehending the unauthorized who are already in the country. As assertive as it was, "prevention through deterrence" was arguably unsuccessful, with a doubling in size of undocumented immigrants population during the two decades leading up to 2014.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last=Ewing|first=Walter A.|date=2014|title=Enemy Territory: Immigration Enforcement in the US–Mexico Borderlands|url=https://heinonline.org/HOL/P?h=hein.journals/jmighs2&i=198.|journal=Journal on Migration and Human Security|volume=2|issue=3|pages=198–222|via=HeinOnline|doi=10.14240/jmhs.v2i3.32|doi-broken-date=February 19, 2024 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="cbp.gov" />
In order to effectively enforce border protection, the U.S.' policies and regulations have looked to make border crossings more hazardous through the implementation of various operations, one of those being the "funnel effect". The tactic was meant to discourage migration from Mexico into the U.S. by forcing migrants to travel further around barriers where the terrain and weather are more risky, but the strategy was not as successful as initially planned.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Newell|first=Bryce Clayton|date=May 2016|title=Information seeking, technology use, and vulnerability among migrants at the United States–Mexico border|journal=Information Society|volume=32|issue=3|pages=176–191|doi=10.1080/01972243.2016.1153013|doi-access=free}}</ref> As a result, the effect funneled more immigrants to their death even with the assistance of [[Coyote (person)|coyotes]] (smugglers). Not only has this approach caused fatalities throughout the U.S.–Mexico border, but it has even stirred up a nuisance for documented immigrants and American citizens. There has been general concern about the Border Patrol and other agencies abusing their authority by racial profiling and conducting unwarranted searches outside the exception of the {{convert|25|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} border zone, but still within the {{convert|100.|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} border zone.
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In 2012, Border Patrol agents made over 364,000 arrests of people illegally entering the country. Considerable success has been achieved in restoring integrity and safety to the border, by putting in place a border-control strategy. These include [[Operation Gatekeeper]] in [[San Diego]]; Operation Hold the Line in [[El Paso, Texas|El Paso]]; Operation Rio Grande in [[McAllen, Texas|McAllen]]; Operation Safeguard in [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]]; and the Arizona Border Control Initiative along the Arizona border.<ref name="pulsamerica1" /><ref name="smithson1" /><ref name="cbp.gov">{{cite web|url=https://www.cbp.gov/border-security/along-us-borders/overview|title=Border Patrol Overview|website=cbp.gov}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>
According to Vulliamy, one in five Mexican nationals will visit or work in the U.S. at one point in their lifetime.<ref name="Vulliamy2010">{{cite book|last=Vulliamy|first=Ed|url=https://archive.org/details/amexicawaralongb00vull|title=Amexica: War Along the Borderline|date=2010|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-
[[File:Sinaloa Cartel Drug Tunnel.jpg|thumb|[[Illegal drug trade|Drug trafficking]] tunnel under the U.S.–Mexico border used by the [[Sinaloa Cartel]]]]▼
▲[[File:Sinaloa Cartel Drug Tunnel.jpg|thumb|[[Illegal drug trade|Drug trafficking]] tunnel under the U.S.–Mexico border used by the [[Sinaloa Cartel]]]]
There are an estimated half a million [[Illegal entry|illegal entries]] into the U.S. each year.<ref name="GAO-06-770">{{cite web |url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06770.pdf |publisher=Government Accountability Office |title=Illegal Immigration – Border-Crossing Deaths Have Doubled Since 1995; Border Patrol's Efforts to Prevent Deaths Have Not Been Fully Evaluated |page=42 |date=August 2006}}</ref> Border Patrol activity is concentrated around border cities such as San Diego and El Paso which have extensive border fencing. This means that the flow of illegal immigrants is diverted into rural mountainous and desert areas, leading to several hundred [[Migrant deaths along the Mexico–United States border|migrant deaths along the Mexico–U.S. border]] of those attempting to cross into the U.S. from Mexico illegally and vice versa.<ref name="GAO-06-770" />
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The [[Secure Fence Act of 2006]] was passed providing for the construction of {{convert|700.|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} of high-security fencing. Attempts to complete the construction of the [[Mexico–United States barrier]] have been challenged by the Mexican government and various U.S.–based organizations.
In January
{{Graph:Chart|width=900|height=200|type=rect|xAxisTitle=Fiscal Year (Years shown here: 1990–2017.|yAxisTitle=Apprehensions (in thousands)
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The increase of border security throughout the years has progressively made crossings at the U.S.–Mexico border more dangerous, which has developed a human rights crisis at the border. The number of migrant deaths occurring along the U.S.–Mexico border has dramatically increased since the implementation of the funnel effect.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Leif|date=November 2015|title=Material Interventions on the US-Mexico Border: Investigating a Sited Politics of Migrant Solidarity |journal=Antipode |volume=47|issue=5|pages=1244|doi=10.1111/anti.12151}}</ref> Along the Arizona-Mexico border, only seven migrant deaths were recorded in 1996; however, the remains of over 2,000 migrants were discovered from 2001 to 2012. Since the majority of deaths occur in rural areas, where extreme temperatures are common, it is likely the number of recorded deaths are far below the total. Because of the harsh, inaccessible terrain, human remains may not be found for years or ever.<ref>{{Cite SSRN|last=Martinez|first=Daniel E.|last2=Reineke|first2=Robin|last3=Rubio-Goldsmith|first3=Raquel|last4=Anderson|first4=Bruce E.|last5=Hess|first5=Gregory L.|last6=Parks|first6=Bruce O.|date=2013|title=A Continued Humanitarian Crisis at the Border: Undocumented Border Crosser Deaths Recorded by the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner, 1990–2012|ssrn=2633209}}</ref>
The [[Human Rights Watch]] cited on April 22, 2020, that a U.S.–Mexico border shutdown could be expected following the [[Coronavirus disease 2019|COVID-19]] public health emergency. According to HRW, the new rule introduced by the [[Centers for Disease Control and Prevention|CDC]] overlooks the fact that the U.S. is obligated to protect refugees from return to conditions threatening prosecution, as per treaties.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/04/22/tell-trump-administration-protect-asylum-seekers|title=Tell the Trump Administration to Protect Asylum Seekers |access-date=
President Joe Biden's border executive plan as the COVID-19 restrictions
Under Title 42, which had been in effect since March 2020, many border crossers have been quickly deported to Mexico without a chance for asylum.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=Michael |title=Border crossings top 10,000 daily as migrants seek US entry before Title 42 ends |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-restricts-asylum-access-mexico-border-title-42-ends-2023-05-10/ |work=Reuters |date=2023}}</ref>
===Barrier===
{{main|Mexico–United States barrier}}
The U.S. government had plans in 2006, during the [[Presidency of George W. Bush|Bush administration]], to erect a border fence along the Mexico–U.S. border. The controversial proposal included creating many individual fences. Almost {{Convert|600.|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} of fence were constructed, with each of the individual fences composed of steel and concrete.<ref name="Vulliamy2010" /> In between these fences are infrared cameras and sensors, National Guard soldiers, and SWAT teams on alert, giving rise to the term "virtual fence".<ref name="Vulliamy2010" /> Construction on the fence began in 2006, with each mile costing the U.S. government about $2.8 million.<ref name="Hodge, Roger D. 2012">{{cite journal|last=Hodge|first= Roger D. |title=Borderworld: How the U.S. Is Reengineering Homeland Security|url=http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-12/how-us-reengineering-homeland-security-borders|journal=Popular Science |volume=280 |issue= 1|year= 2012|pages= 56–81}}</ref> In 2010, the initiative was terminated because of costs, after having completed {{convert|640.|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} of either barrier fence or vehicle barriers, that were either new or had been rebuilt over older, inferior fencing. The [[Boeing]]-built SBI-net systems of using radar, watchtowers, and sensors (without a fence or physical barrier) were scrapped for being over budget, full of glitches, and far behind schedule.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/16/AR2010031603573.html|title=Work to cease on 'virtual fence' along U.S.–Mexico border|last=Hsu|first=Spencer S.|date=March 16, 2010|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>
<gallery mode="packed" heights="170">
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===Border incursions===
[[File:Pedestrian border crossing sign Tijuana Mexico.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Border for pedestrians in Tijuana, Baja California]]
According to the U.S. Border Patrol, apprehensions of Central Americans at the border reduced from 70,000 to 55,000 attempted illegal migrants from 2007 to 2011. Thereafter, the number of apprehensions increased dramatically to 95,000 in 2012, 150,000 in 2013 and 220,000 in 2014. The increased apprehensions could have been the result of improved border security or a dramatic rise in attempted crossings, or both.<ref name="officialstats">{{cite web |title=Statistics – SW Border apprehensions |url=https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/usbp-sw-border-apprehensions |website=www.cbp.gov |publisher=CBP – US Border patrol (Official website) |access-date=
In the fiscal year of 2006, there were 29 confirmed border incursions by Mexican government officials, of which 17 were by armed individuals. Since 1996, there have been 253 incursions by Mexican government officials.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/20080109-1533-mexico-us-borderincursions.html |title=Report: Border Patrol confirms 29 incursions by Mexican officials into U.S. in 2007
|newspaper=San Diego Union Tribune |access-date=January 17, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEKUJGT2xr4 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/pEKUJGT2xr4 |archive-date=
On August 3, 2008, [[Mexican Armed Forces|Mexican military]] personnel crossed into Arizona from Mexico and encountered a U.S. Border Patrol agent, whom they held at gunpoint. The soldiers later returned to Mexico, as backup Border Patrol agents came to investigate.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/aug/06/soldiers-cross-into-us-hold-guns-to-agent/ |title=Border patrol agent held at gunpoint |work=Washington Times |date=August 8, 2008}}</ref>
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Proponents of greater spending on the border argue that continuing the buildup is necessary because of increased violence and drug trafficking from Mexico spilling into the U.S.<ref>{{cite web|last=Potter|first=Mark|title=Debate rages over Mexico 'spillover violence' in U.S|date=March 15, 2012 |url=http://dailynightly.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/15/10701978-debate-rages-over-mexico-spillover-violence-in-us?lite|publisher=NBC News|access-date=September 24, 2012}}</ref> However, critics such as the [[Washington Office on Latin America]] have argued that the diminishing number of border crossings can only be partially attributed to U.S. security measures. Unintentional factors, such as a weakened U.S. economy in the wake of the [[Financial crisis of 2007–2008|2008 financial crisis]] and the [[Mexican drug war]] have made attempting illegal border crossings more risky and less rewarding.<ref name="Insightcrime">{{cite web |url=http://www.insightcrime.org/news-analysis/further-buildup-on-us-mexico-border-unnecessary-report |title=Further Buildup on US–Mexico Border Unnecessary: Report |newspaper=[[InSight Crime]] |date=April 20, 2012 |access-date=December 7, 2014}}</ref>
In 2019, there have been humanitarian crises on the border because of lack of resources. Migrant children have specifically been affected.<ref name="roguerocket.com">Stenn, L. (
Distribution of natural resources across the border has also been a major challenge, particularly for water use and water quality. Toxic sewage flowing into Mexico, and over-consumption of water from the Colorado River Basin and middle-lower Rio Grande have been central to the conflict. Large-scale infrastructure investments may be necessary to address the growing water and energy issues in this arid region.<ref name="Applied Energy 2021 p.
=== Trump administration ===
[[File:2019 US Meixco Border Crossing apprehension (48036606282).jpg|thumb|U.S. Border Patrol agents review documents of individuals suspected of attempted illegal entry in 2019.]]
In 2016, Republican nominee for president [[Donald Trump]] proposed building a border wall to control immigration. He declared that, as president, he would force Mexico to pay all costs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/30/politics/donald-trump-enrique-pea-nieto-mexico/|title=Mexican president disputes Trump over border wall payment discussion|first1=Stephen|last1=Collinson|first2=Jeremy|last2=Diamond|website=CNN|date=September 1, 2016|access-date=October 7, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-37243269|title=How realistic is Donald Trump's Mexico wall?|date=September 1, 2016|website=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=October 7, 2016}}</ref> On January 25, 2017, several days after his inauguration and two days in advance of a planned meeting in Washington, D.C., with Mexican President [[Enrique Peña Nieto]], new U.S. president Trump signed [[Executive Order 13767]] to enable the building of the wall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38740717|title=Trump orders wall to be built on Mexico border|date=January 26, 2017|website=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=January 26, 2017}}</ref> Peña Nieto denied that Mexico would pay for the wall and declined the meeting.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38753826|title=Mexico: We will not pay for Trump border wall|date=January 26, 2017|website=BBC News|language=en-GB|access-date=January 26, 2017}}</ref> Shortly after, Trump announced that he intended to impose a 20% tariff on Mexican goods.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-mexico-idUSKBN15A1VF|title=Trump seeks 20 percent tax on Mexico goods to pay for wall, crisis deepens|date=January 26, 2017|website=Reuters|language=en-GB|access-date=January 26, 2017}}</ref> Mexico did not make any payments
On September 20, 2017, [[Attorney General of California|California Attorney General]] [[Xavier Becerra]] filed a lawsuit alleging that the Trump administration has overstepped its powers in expediting construction of a border wall.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Patrick|last1=McGreevy|first2=Jazmine|last2=Ulloa|website=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-xavier-becerra-trump-wall-lawsuit-20170920-story.html|title=California again steps up to Trump, this time to stop the border wall|date=September 20, 2017|url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>[[State of California Department of Justice]], September 20, 2017: [https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-constitution-rule-law-barriers-trump-border-wall ''Attorney General Becerra: Constitution, Rule of Law Barriers to Trump Border Wall''] (Press Release)</ref> As of the end of 2017, Mexico had not agreed to pay any amount toward the wall, no new tariffs on Mexican goods had been considered by the U.S. Congress,<ref name="payforwall">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/republicans-skeptical-about-paying-for-wall-as-trump-prepares-to-release-budget/2017/03/15/dd2b5848-099b-11e7-b77c-0047d15a24e0_story.html|title=Republicans skeptical about paying for wall as Trump releases budget|first1=Sean|last1=Sullivan|first2=Kelsey|last2=Snell|date=March 16, 2017|access-date=April 9, 2018|newspaper=Washington Post|url-access=limited}}</ref> the U.S. Congress had not appropriated funding for a wall, and no further wall construction had started beyond what was already planned during the [[Presidency of Barack Obama|Obama administration]].<ref name="payforwall" />
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In June 2018, the Trump administration established a [[Trump administration family separation policy|new policy of separating parents from their children at the Mexican border]]. People asking for asylum at official ports of entry were "being turned away and told there's no room for them now."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/6/5/17428640/border-families-asylum-illegal|title=Trump keeps making it harder for people to seek asylum legally|publisher=Vox|date=June 5, 2018|access-date=June 20, 2018}}</ref> The U.S. and Mexico mutually placed tariffs on each other's exports.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Aleem |first1=Zeeshan |title=Trump hit Mexico with steel tariffs. Mexico is hitting back – and targeting Republicans|url=https://www.vox.com/world/2018/6/6/17433654/mexico-tariffs-us-goods-trump-trade |access-date=March 7, 2019 |website=Vox |date=June 6, 2018}}</ref>
[[File:Cerco fronterizo de H. Nogales y Nogales.jpg|thumb|left
On November 8, 2018, the Trump administration announced new rules to deny asylum to anyone who crosses into the U.S. illegally from any nation, at Trump's discretion. This was based on the Supreme Court decision of ''[[Trump v. Hawaii]]'' and the presidential powers of the [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965]].<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/us/politics/trump-asylum-seekers-executive-order.html | title= Trump Claims New Power to Bar Asylum for Immigrants Who Arrive Illegally | first = Michael | last = Shear | date = November 8, 2018 | access-date = December 21, 2018 | work = [[The New York Times]] | url-access = limited}}</ref> Trump signed a proclamation the next day to specify that people crossing the Mexican border illegally would not qualify for asylum; he called the march of migrants from Central America towards the U.S. a "crisis".<ref name="nytimes asylum 20181109">{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/09/us/politics/trump-asylum-seekers-executive-order.html | title= Trump Suspends Some Asylum Rights, Calling Illegal Immigration 'a Crisis' | first1 = Michael | last1= Shear | first2 = Eileen | last2= Sullivan | date= November 9, 2018 | access-date = December 21, 2018 | work =[[The New York Times]] | url-access = limited}}</ref> Civil rights groups strongly criticized the move, and several groups, including the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], the [[American Civil Liberties Union]], and the [[Center for Constitutional Rights]], filed a lawsuit in the [[United States District Court for the Northern District of California|U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California]] to challenge the proclamation.<ref name="nytimes asylum 20181109" /> Judge [[Jon S. Tigar]] ruled in favor of the advocacy groups on November 20, 2018, placing an injunction on the administration to delay implementation of the rule.<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/us/judge-denies-trump-asylum-policy.html | title = Federal Judge Blocks Trump's Proclamation Targeting Some Asylum Seekers | first= Miriam | last= Jordan | date = November 20, 2018 | access-date= December 21, 2018
During the 2018 fiscal year, U.S. border agents arrested 107,212 people traveling in families, a record-high number. During the following five months (October 2018 through February 2019), that record was shattered by the arrest of 136,150 people traveling in families.<ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Border Patrol Southwest Border Apprehensions by Sector FY2018 |url=https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/usbp-sw-border-apprehensions |website=U.S. Customs and Border Protection |access-date=
==== Proposed wall ====
{{Main|Trump wall}}
[[File:United States-Mexico-border-wall-Progreso-Lakes-Texas.jpeg|thumb|right
While running for president, Trump
In the summer of 2017, four major construction companies planned to bid for the contract. The Customs and Border Protection agency budgeted $20 million to hire these companies to build half-million-dollar prototypes of the wall. At this time, Congress had only approved $341 million to maintain the existing wall; no funds had been allocated to build new sections of wall.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/mexico-wall-prototypes-trump.html |title=U.S. Moves to Build Prototypes for Mexican Border Wall |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |first=Ron |last=Nixon |date=August 31, 2017 |access-date=August 27, 2018 |url-access=limited}}</ref> The DHS recommended that the wall's height should be between {{cvt|18.|and|30.|ft|abbr=off|order=flip|sigfig=2}} and its depth should be up to {{cvt|6.|ft|order=flip}} to deter drug traffickers from building tunnels.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Wall: The real costs of a barrier between the United States and Mexico|first=Vanda|last=Felbab-Brown|date=August 2017|url=https://www.brookings.edu/essay/the-wall-the-real-costs-of-a-barrier-between-the-united-states-and-mexico/|website=The Brookings Institution|access-date=April 26, 2020}}</ref>
During the Trump administration, {{Convert|455|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} were added to barrier between the two countries. The construction of the wall has been halted by President [[Joe Biden]] as he canceled the national emergency declaration, originally used by Trump.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Miroff|first1=Nick|last2=Hernandez|first2=Arelis R.|date=January 20, 2021|title=Biden orders a 'pause' on border wall construction, bringing crews to halt|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/biden-border-wall-executive-order/2021/01/20/5f472456-5b32-11eb-aaad-93988621dd28_story.html|access-date=
=== Biden administration ===
The U.S. Border Patrol detained more than 1.7 million migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in fiscal year 2021, the highest number ever recorded.<ref>{{cite news |title=Record high migrant detentions at US-Mexico border |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59019791 |work=BBC News |date=October 23, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Situation at the southern border worse that you probably realize |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/immigration/581513-situation-at-the-southern-border-worse-that-you-probably-realize |work=The Hill |date=November 15, 2021}}</ref> A greater demographic diversity of southwest border apprehensions have been noted in 2021.<ref>Stef W. Kight. (
[https://www.axios.com/us-border-migrants-russia-ukraine-651b35ab-8cf1-480c-afe5-8961e9c98e45.html Axios website] Retrieved
On October 31, 2023, Homeland Security Secretary [[Alejandro Mayorkas]] testified before the [[United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs|Senate Homeland Security Committee]] that more than 600,000 people illegally made their way into the United States without being apprehended by border agents during the 2023 fiscal year.<ref>{{cite news |title=WATCH LIVE: FBI Director Wray, DHS head Mayorkas testify in Senate hearing on threats to U.S. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKn948LUX8I&ab_channel=PBSNewsHour |work=PBS NewsHour |date=October 31, 2023 |access-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211102151/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKn948LUX8I&ab_channel=PBSNewsHour |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Mayorkas confirms over 600,000 illegal immigrants evaded law enforcement at southern border last fiscal year |url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-confirms-over-600k-illegal-immigrants-evaded-law-enforcement-southern-border |work=Fox News |date=October 31, 2023 |access-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231211102151/https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-confirms-over-600k-illegal-immigrants-evaded-law-enforcement-southern-border |url-status=live }}</ref>
On February 8, 2024, a group of 24 House Republicans wrote a letter<ref>{{Cite web |title=Letter - PDF |url=https://weber.house.gov/uploadedfiles/border_letter_to_potus_final.pdf}}</ref> to urge President Biden not to federalize the Texas National Guard in the midst of Texas wanting to crack down on the spike of illegal immigration on the U.S.-Mexico border.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Timotija |first=Filip |date=February 8, 2024 |title=Republicans tell Biden not to take control of Texas National Guard amid standoff over border |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4456459-republicans-biden-not-take-control-texas-national-guard-border/ |access-date=February 9, 2024 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref>
=== Humanitarian assistance along the border ===
[[File:Water Stations at Border.jpg|thumb|A volunteer from the Humane Border group is refilling water stations located on the desert of the U.S.-Mexico border.]]
Humanitarian groups such as Humane Borders, No More Deaths, and Samaritans provide water in order to reduce deaths of immigrants who are journeying through the Arizona desert.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite news|url=http://tucson.com/news/local/border/us-allows-new-water-stations-by-border/article_a8dc1191-74fc-5a8a-9ad0-409b7a1e8b65.html|title=US allows new water stations by border|last=Star|first=Brady McCombs Arizona Daily|work=Arizona Daily Star|access-date=April 6, 2018
No More Deaths (''No Más Muertes'') is a [[non-governmental organization]] (NGO) headquartered in [[Tucson, Arizona|Tucson]] that is designed to assist in ending death and suffering of immigrants along the U.S.-Mexico border by upholding fundamental human rights. Elemental services of No More Deaths is to provide humanitarian assistance, giving food and first aid treatment, witness and respond to human rights abuses, encouraging humane immigration policy, and making phone calls to relatives of immigrants.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bird|first=Jo|date=November 2014|title=Human Rights on the US/Mexico Border<!-- |disabled url, this link is utterly useless for anyone who does not have access to ebscohosturl=http://web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=ec1dca85-5d92-4e29-8d58-31f9431edecb%40sdc-v-sessmgr05 -->|journal=Pandora's Box (1835-8624)|volume=21|pages=94–101}}</ref> Since its founding in 2004, No More Deaths has provided assistance to thousands of migrant border crossers; however the Border Patrol and other public land agencies near the U.S.–Mexico border have challenged the efforts of various humanitarian groups, by following immigrants to a medical volunteer camp and raiding it.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.statnews.com/2017/07/06/immigration-desert-clinic/|title=After Trump's immigration crackdown, a desert clinic tries to save lives without breaking the law|last=Boodman|first=Eric|date=July 6, 2017|work=STAT|access-date=December 1, 2018}}</ref> Humanitarian groups along the border have been tested by Border Patrol and other agencies, however the authority of the Trump administration has introduced a new tier of restriction through surveillance, harassment, and intimidation to border relief efforts.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Smith|first=Sophie|date=October 2017|title=No More Deaths: Direct Aid in the US-Mexico Border Zone|journal=South Atlantic Quarterly|volume=116|pages=851–862|doi=10.1215/00382876-116-4-851}}</ref>
[[File:Tijuana-san diego border deaths.jpg|thumb|left
Incidence rates of HIV and tuberculosis are higher in border towns such as El Paso and Ciudad Juárez than at the national level in both countries. The Nuestra Casa Initiative tried to counter the health disparities by using a cross-border strategy that moved around an exhibit prominent in various museums and universities.<ref>Moya, Eva, et al. "Nuestra Casa: An Advocacy Initiative to Reduce Inequalities and Tuberculosis along the US–Mexico Border." ''International Public Health Journal'', vol. 8, no. 2, 2016, pp. 107–119.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moya, Eva |last2=Chavez-Baray, Silvia |last3=Wood, William W. |last4=Martinez, Omar |title=Nuestra Casa: An advocacy initiative to reduce inequalities and tuberculosis along the US–Mexico border |journal=International Public Health Journal |date=2016 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=107–119 |language=en |issn=1947-4989|pmid=30245778 |pmc=6150456 }}</ref> Similarly, special action groups as part of the Border Health Strategic Initiative created by the [[University of Arizona]] with other groups helped create a healthier Hispanic community in Arizona border towns by creating policy and infrastructure changes.<ref name="CohenMeister2016">{{cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Stuart J.|last2=Meister|first2=Joel S.|last3=deZapien|first3=Jill G.|title=Special Action Groups for Policy Change and Infrastructure Support to Foster Healthier Communities on the Arizona–Mexico Border|journal=Public Health Reports|volume=119|issue=1|year=2016|pages=40–47|issn=0033-3549|doi=10.1177/003335490411900110|pmid=15147648|pmc=1502256}}</ref> These groups provided humanitarian assistance to counter the prominence of Type 2 diabetes among the Hispanic community by acquiring a grant for new walking trails and encouraging public elementary schools to provide healthier food choices for students.<ref name="CohenMeister2016" />
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Immigrants are considered easy targets by gang members, because they do not have the strength to resist aggressive offenders and end up left with nothing. In June 2018, [[United States Attorney General|U.S. Attorney General]] [[Jeff Sessions]] disqualified victims of gangs or domestic violence to be reasonable causes for asylum seekers.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Rhodan|first=Maya|date=November 2018|title=Give Me Shelter<!-- |disabled url, this link is utterly useless for anyone outside byu url=http://web.a.ebscohost.com.erl.lib.byu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=bfddb08a-48ad-4e62-9fcf-0656cd14af09%40sdc-v-sessmgr01 -->|magazine=Time|volume=192|pages=36–41}}</ref>
[[File:BigBendMexicans.jpeg|thumb|right
Not only do these Hispanic communities face health inequalities, but political inequalities as well.<ref>{{cite news|first=Suzanne|last=Gamboa|date=February 26, 2019|title=Racism, not a lack of assimilation, is the real problem facing Latinos in America|website=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/racism-not-lack-assimilation-real-problem-facing-latinos-america-n974021}}</ref> The need for political change was so huge that it has encouraged Hispanic women to engage in activism at a local level. The Neighborhood Action Group in Chula Vista, California, is one of the groups that attracted the help of local Hispanic women to implement a feminist perspective in activism in spite of the social and economic obstacles as well as Assembly Bill No. 775, 2005 that prohibited children being used as interpreters.<ref name="BoscoAitken2011">{{cite journal|last1=Bosco|first1=Fernando J.|last2=Aitken|first2=Stuart C.|last3=Herman|first3=Thomas|title=Women and children in a neighborhood advocacy group: engaging community and refashioning citizenship at the United States–Mexico border|journal=Gender, Place & Culture|volume=18|issue=2|year=2011|pages=155–178|issn=0966-369X|doi=10.1080/0966369X.2010.551652|s2cid=144414124}}</ref> These humanitarian groups have implemented various strategies to pursue their goals that ultimately try to counter the number of immigrant deaths and abuses in immigrant detention even if it means the criminalization and higher levels of discrimination against them.<ref name="AndroffTavassoli2012">{{cite journal|last1=Androff|first1=D. K.|last2=Tavassoli|first2=K. Y.|title=Deaths in the Desert: The Human Rights Crisis on the U.S.–Mexico Border|journal=Social Work|volume=57|issue=2|year=2012|pages=165–173|issn=0037-8046|doi=10.1093/sw/sws034|url=https://asu.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/deaths-in-the-desert-the-human-rights-crisis-on-the-us-mexico-bor|pmid=23038878}}</ref>
In Mexico, most humanitarian groups focus on assisting the deportees. As rates of deportation increase, "the deportation of many individuals is becoming more and more notable" in the streets of Mexico cities.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|url=http://www.atencionsanmiguel.org/2018/02/16/new-organization-emerges-to-aid-deported-mexican-nationals/|title=New Organization Emerges to Aid Deported Mexican Nationals {{!}} San Miguel de Allende {{!}} Atención San Miguel|website=Atencionsanmiguel.org|language=en-US|access-date=April 6, 2018
In June 2019, 300 migrant children were moved from a detention facility in [[Clint, Texas]], after a group of lawyers who visited reported unsafe and unsanitary conditions.<ref name="roguerocket.com" /> In the same month, the body of Óscar Alberto Martínez and his 23-month-old daughter, Angie Valeria, were found dead in the Rio Grande River. The family was from El Salvador, attempting to cross from Mexico into the U.S. near [[Brownsville, Texas]].<ref>{{cite news|first1=Christina|last1=Maxouris|first2=Steve|last2=Almasy|first3=Natalie|last3=Gallón|date=June 27, 2019|title=A woman watched her husband and daughter drown at the Mexican border, report says|url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/26/politics/mexico-father-daughter-dead-rio-grande-wednesday/|website=CNN}}</ref> Gaining attention from the media, the House passed a bill, appropriating $4.5 billion for resources at the border.<ref>{{cite news|first1=Rebecca|last1=Shabad|first2=Leigh Ann|last2=Caldwell|date=June 25, 2019|title=House passes border funding bill to address humanitarian crisis|website=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/house-passes-border-funding-bill-address-humanitarian-crisis-n1021511}}</ref>
==
Per the [[
===Secure Border Initiative===
{{One source section|date=June 2018}}
[[File:Defense.gov photo essay 060719-A-3715G-077.jpg|thumb|A U.S. [[Army National Guard]] member working with the U.S. Border Patrol in support of [[Operation Jump Start]], Arizona, July 2006]] A National Border Patrol Strategic Plan was first developed in 1994; it was then updated in 2004 and 2012. In 2004, the updated strategy focused on command structures, intelligence and surveillance, enforcement and deployment of U.S. Border Patrol agents to better respond to threats at the border. The strategic planning led to broader policy development for the DHS which led to the [[Secure Border Initiative]] (SBI) in 2005 to secure U.S. borders and reduce illegal migration. The main components of SBI dealt with staffing concerns, removal capacity, surveillance and tactical infrastructure and interior enforcement.<ref name="Seghetti">{{cite journal|last1=Seghetti|first1=Lisa|title=Border Security: Immigration Enforcement Between Ports of Entry|journal=Congressional Research Service|date=December 31, 2014|url=https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/R42138.pdf}}</ref> The aim of this initiative is to overcome the limitations of physical barriers through the use of surveillance technologies known as "SBInet."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=
One "high consequence outcome" was formal removal, which meant the individual would be deemed ineligible for a visa for at least five years and subject to criminal charges if caught re-entering illegally. The [[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952|Immigration and Nationality Act]] permitted aliens to be formally removed with "limited judicial processing" known as expedited removal. The DHS has expanded between 2002 and 2006, expedited removal for "certain aliens that entered within previous two weeks and were apprehended within {{convert|100.|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}} of the border".<ref name="Seghetti" />{{Page needed|date=March 2023}}
Another "high consequence outcome" is the increase in criminal charges. The DHS has also worked with the [[U.S. Department of Justice]] (DOJ) to increase the number of apprehended individuals crossing the border illegally who are charged with criminal offenses. Most of these cases are prosecuted under Operation Streamline.<ref name="Seghetti" /> The third
===100-mile border zone===
{{more citations needed section|date=March 2015}}▼
{{main|Border search exception}}
▲{{more citations needed section|date=March 2015}}
[[File:USMC-10343.jpg|thumb|Members of the [[North Carolina Army National Guard]] monitoring the U.S.–Mexico border in southwest Arizona]]
The U.S. has established a {{Convert|100.|mi|km|abbr=on|adj=on|order=flip}} border zone which applies to all U.S. external borders including all coasts, in effect covering two-thirds of the U.S. population,<ref>{{Cite web|author=Catherine E. Shoichet|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/23/us/border-zone-immigration-checks/index.html|title=The US border is bigger than you think|publisher=CNN|date=May 24, 2018|access-date=July 16, 2018}}</ref> including a majority of the largest cities in the U.S. and several entire states (namely [[Connecticut]], [[Delaware]], [[Florida]], [[Hawaii]], [[Maine]], [[Michigan]], [[New Hampshire]], [[New Jersey]], and [[Rhode Island]]).<ref name="100mileborder" /> The border zone was established by the U.S. DOJ in its interpretation of the ''[[Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952]]''.<ref name="100mileborder">{{cite journal|title=The Constitution in the 100-Mile Border Zone|journal=American Civil Liberties Union|url=https://www.aclu.org/immigrants-rights/constitution-100-mile-border-zone}}</ref> Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have authority to stop and search within this zone and are authorized to enter private property without a warrant within {{convert|25|mi|km|abbr=on|order=flip}} of the border as well as establish checkpoints.<ref name="100mileborder" /><ref name="rickerd">{{cite journal|last1=Rickerd|first1=C.|title=Customs and Border Protection's (CBP's) 100-Mile Rule|journal=American Civil Liberties Union |url=https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/assets/13_08_01_aclu_100_mile_cbp_zone_final.pdf}}</ref>
The [[Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution]] protects against unreasonable [[search and seizure]]. However, under the border search exception, this protection does not fully apply at borders or border crossings (also known as ports of entry) or in the border zone. This means that much of the U.S. population is subject to CBP regulations including stop and search. There are some limits to CBP
===Operation Streamline===
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Previously, immigrants apprehended at the border were either given the option to voluntarily return to their home country or they were placed in civil immigration proceedings.<ref name="Lydgate" /> After Operation Streamline was implemented, nearly all people apprehended at the border who are suspected of having crossed illegally are subject to criminal prosecution.<ref name="Kerwin & McCabe" /> Defendants who are charged with crossing into the U.S. illegally are tried en masse to determine their guilt.<ref name="Nazarian" /> Defense attorneys often are responsible for representing up to 40 immigrants at once.<ref name="Nazarian" /> Around 99% of defendants in Operation Streamline proceedings plead guilty.<ref name="Lydgate" /> The defendants are charged with a [[misdemeanor]] if convicted of crossing the border illegally for the first time and a [[felony]] if it is a [[Recidivism|repeat offense]].<ref name="Nazarian" />
In December 2009, it was decided in ''United States v. Roblero-Solis'' that en masse judicial proceedings like those in Operation Streamline violated Rule 11 in the [[Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure]]. Rule 11 states that the court must determine that a guilty plea is voluntarily made by addressing the defendant personally in court. The ''Roblero-Solis'' case determined that
[[File:ICE Arrest.jpg|thumb|[[U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement|ICE ERO]] officers deporting a man wanted for two murders in Mexico]]
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==Environment==
{{More|Environmental issues along the Mexico–United States border}}
The Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area, known as the ''La Paz Agreement'', was signed into law on August 14, 1983, and became enforceable on February 16, 1984.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://www.epa.gov/Border2012/docs/LaPazAgreement.pdf|title = Agreement on Cooperation for the Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Border Area|year=1983 |access-date = December 2, 2014|publisher = US Environmental Protection Agency}}</ref> This agreement to protect the environment is the political foundation between the U.S. and Mexico for 4 subsequent programs. Each program has addressed environmental destruction in the border region resulting from the rise of the [[maquiladora]] industries, those who migrated to northern Mexico to work in the industries, the lack of infrastructure to accommodate the people, Mexico's lax regulations concerning all these factors, the resulting spillover into the U.S., and the U.S.'s own environmentally destructive tendencies. The programs were: IBEP (1992), Border XXI (1996), Border 2012 (2003) and Border 2020 (2012).<ref>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Colin|title=1 U.S. – Mexico Cooperation for the Health of the Environment in the Border Region: A Policy History Analysis|url=https://www.academia.edu/2640698|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131113160840/http://www.academia.edu/2640698/U.S._-_Mexico_Cooperation_for_the_Health_of_the_Environment_in_the_Border_Region_A_Policy_History_Analysis|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 13, 2013}}</ref>
{{one source|section | date = June 2018
}}
[[File:Mexico-US border at Tijuana.jpg|thumb|right
In 2006, during the presidency of George W. Bush, Congress approved Secure Fence Act which allowed the Department of Homeland Security to erect a border fence along the U.S.–Mexico border. Congress also approved a different law called the REAL ID Act which gave the Department of Homeland Security the approval to build the wall without taking into consideration the environmental and legal issues related to the wall. The U.S. Congress insisted that the act was passed for the sake of national security of the U.S.<ref name="Cohn2007">{{cite journal|last1=Cohn|first1=Jeffrey P.|title=The Environmental Impacts of a Border Fence|journal=BioScience|volume=57|issue=1|year=2007|pages=96|issn=1525-3244|doi=10.1641/B570116|jstor=10.1641/b570116|s2cid=84341799|doi-access=free}}</ref>
According to a delegation of Arizona park and refuge managers, wildlife biologists, and conservationists who studied the U.S. and Mexico border concluded that building a wall along the Mexico border would also have negative impacts on the natural environment in the region. They argued that the border wall would negatively affect the wildlife in the Sonoran Desert including plants and animals. Naturally, animals do not tend to stay in one place and instead, they expedite to various places for water, plants, and other means in order to survive. The wall would restrict animals to a specific territory and would reduce their chances of survival. According to Brian Segee, a staff attorney with Wildlife Activists says that except high flying birds, animals would not be able to move to other places because of the wall along the border. For instance, participants in this study argued that some species such as [[Peccary|javelinas]], [[ocelot]]s, and [[Sonoran pronghorn]] would not be able to freely move along the border areas. It would also restrict the movement of jaguars from Sierra Madre occidental forests to the southwestern parts of the U.S. According to Brian Nowicki, a conservation biologist at the [[Center for Biological Diversity]], there are 30 animal species living in the Arizona and Sonora that face danger.<ref name="Cohn2007" /> In 2021, an endangered [[Mexican gray wolf]] was stopped from crossing from New Mexico into Mexico by a section of border wall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/mexican-gray-wolf-migration-stopped-by-border-wall|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121231517/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/mexican-gray-wolf-migration-stopped-by-border-wall|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2022|title = An endangered wolf went in search of a mate. The border wall blocked him|website = [[National Geographic Society]]|date = January 21, 2022}}</ref>
==Drug trafficking==
{{Seealso|Illegal drug trade in Latin America|Illegal drug trade in the United States|Crime in Mexico|Mexican drug war|Opioid epidemic in the United States}}
Mexico is estimated to be the world's third largest producer of [[opium]] with poppy cultivation. It also is a major supplier of [[heroin]] and the largest foreign supplier of [[marijuana]], [[cocaine]] and [[methamphetamine]] to the U.S. market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/mexico/|title=The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency|website=www.cia.gov|language=en|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dea.gov/divisions/hq/2016/hq120616.shtml|title=DEA.gov / Headquarters News Releases, 12/06/16|website=www.dea.gov|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-27}}</ref> According to the [[Drug Enforcement Administration|DEA]], about 93% of the [[Cocaine in the United States|cocaine]] in the United States came from [[Colombia]] and was smuggled across the border between Mexico and the United States. In 2017, the [[Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs|INL]] estimated that "between 90 and 94 percent of all heroin consumed in the United States comes from Mexico."<ref>{{cite news |title=Fact-checking Trump on drug traffic from Mexico |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/06/01/politics/trump-mexico-drugs-90-percent-tariff-fact-check/index.html |work=CNN |date=June 1, 2019}}</ref> These drugs are supplied by [[drug trafficking organizations]]. The U.S. government estimates that Mexican drug cartels gain tens of billions of dollars each year from drug sales in the U.S. alone.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-drug-war|title=Mexico's Drug War|work=Council on Foreign Relations|access-date=2018-01-27|language=en}}</ref>
Border towns on the Mexico–United States border have been negatively affected by the [[Opioid epidemic in the United States|opioid crisis]] in the United States. According to César González Vaca, head of the Forensic Doctor's Service in [[Baja California]], "It seems the closer we are to the border, the more consumption of this drug we see."<ref name="bbc-07-02-2024">{{cite news |title='People will keep dying': Fentanyl crisis grips Mexico's border cities |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68101263 |work=BBC News |date=7 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title='People will keep dying': Fentanyl crisis grips Mexico's border cities |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-68101263 |work=BBC News |date=7 February 2024}}</ref> In 2021, around 80,411 people died from [[opioid overdose]]s in the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Opioid Deaths Could Hit 165,000 Annually Without Intervention, Biden Official Warns |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mollybohannon/2023/06/07/opioid-deaths-could-hit-165000-annually-without-intervention-biden-official-warns/ |work=Forbes |date=June 7, 2023}}</ref> Many of the deaths are from an extremely potent opioid, [[fentanyl]], which is trafficked from Mexico.<ref name="bbc-07-02-2024"/><ref>{{cite news|last1=Miroff|first1=Nick|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/at-the-new-york-division-of-fentanyl-inc-a-banner-year/2017/11/13/c3cce108-be83-11e7-af84-d3e2ee4b2af1_story.html|title=Mexican traffickers making New York a hub for lucrative — and deadly — fentanyl|date=November 13, 2017|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> The drug is usually manufactured in [[China]], then shipped to Mexico, where it is processed and packaged, which is then smuggled into the United States by Mexican [[drug cartel]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Linthicum |first=Kate |date=2020-04-24 |title=Coronavirus chokes the drug trade — from Wuhan, through Mexico and onto U.S. streets |url=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-04-24/wuhan-china-coronavirus-fentanyl-global-drug-trade |website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2023, the Biden administration announced a crackdown on members of the [[Sinaloa Cartel]] smuggling fentanyl into the United States.<ref>{{cite news |title=Mexican cartel targeted by Biden administration in multiple fentanyl indictments |url=https://coloradonewsline.com/briefs/mexican-cartel-biden-fentanyl-indictments/ |work=Colorado Newsline |date=April 14, 2023}}</ref>
==Transborder students==
{{more citations needed|date=May 2019}}
[[File:Nogales-Grand Avenue Port of Entry.jpg|thumb|left
Many schools near the border in America have students that live on the Mexican side of the border. These students are "transborder students", as they live in Mexico but are enrolled in the U.S. education system. There are thousands of elementary through high school students that cross the Mexican-American border. They are known to wake up in the early hours of the morning to make their way to the border, where they wait in long lines to cross into the U.S. After crossing the border, the students find a ride to school. Many students come to America for the opportunity, because it has a more developed and organized educational system. Students who go to school in America have a better chance of reaching higher education in the U.S. In many parts of Mexico, compulsory education ends at age sixteen. Many of the transborder students are natural-born U.S. citizens. Students that were born in America have the right to American education, even if they do not live in the U.S. In places like the San Diego and Tijuana border, it is much cheaper to live in Mexico. San Diego has a high cost of living and one of the highest student homeless rates in the country, so many families move to Tijuana because it is more affordable to raise a family.
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In Brownsville, a city on the southern border of Texas, a court ruled that school districts cannot deny students education if they have the proper paperwork. Many transborder students who live in these districts with these requirements will use extended family members' addresses to prove their residency. Questions about the legitimacy of student residency have risen since the Trump administration took office in 2017, making it riskier to cross the border for education.
These transborder students also raise questions about the acquisition of healthcare, as most Mexican students who attend university in the U.S. who also have family across the border are known to use the Mexican healthcare system instead of U.S. or university sources.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Fernández|first1=Leticia|last2=Amastae|first2=Jon|date=September 1, 2006
Also researched is the impact of changing education for those children who attended school in the U.S. prior to deportation, and are now readjusting to a new education system within Mexico. In one study, when repatriated children were asked about how their world perspectives were changed once they returned to Mexico, they spoke to three main areas, "shifting identities, learning and losing named language, and schooling across borders."<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Kleyn|first=Tatyana|date=April 3, 2017
==See also==
|