The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide [Hardcover]

David J. Danelo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 10, 2008

- Thoughtful investigative report about a central issue of the 2008 presidential race
- Asks and answers the core questions: Should we close the border? Is a fence or wall the answer? Is the U.S. government capable of fully securing the border?
- Examines the border in human terms through a cast of colorful characters
- Reviews the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects
- Discusses NAFTA, immigration policy, border security, and other local, regional, national, and international issues

More than 250 million people cross the U.S.- Mexican border legally each year, and as many as 10 million do so illegally, making the border--la frontera to Mexicans--the most traversed national boundary on the planet. In an age of terrorism and economic uncertainty, that border is already one of the most hotly debated issues in American politics and is certain to play a prominent role in the 2008 campaign for president. In 2007, David Danelo spent three months traveling the 1,952 miles that separate the United States and Mexico, beginning at Boca Chica, Texas, and traveling to the westernmost limit at Border Field State Park in California--a journey that took him across four states and two countries through a world of rivers and canals, mountains and deserts, highways and dirt roads, fences and border towns. Here the border isn_t just an abstraction thrown around in political debates in Washington; it_s a physical reality, infinitely more complex than most politicians believe. Danelo_s reporting digs beneath the debate and attempts to explain the border and related issues--from legal and illegal immigration to NAFTA and border fences--as they are experienced by the people who live and work there: businessmen, smugglers, Minutemen, migrants, humanitarians, border patrol agents, government officials, and everyday people in the U.S. and Mexico. The divide is great, as Danelo makes clear, but so is the opportunity. Refreshing in the new perspectives it offers and captivating in its depiction of this vibrant, if troubled, region, The Border is an essential starting point for understanding this vital topic.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Marine veteran Danelo's picturesque reportage from both sides of the 1,952-mile line separating the United States and Mexico—the world's most traversed national frontier—reveals how the fraught political debate around immigration and border security masks a very complex set of issues, geographies, economic and emotional ties, histories and subcultures. Inserting himself squarely into the narrative, Danelo builds his account on firsthand impressions gathered while traveling along and across the border, splicing his strong first-person testimonials with analysis of the U.S. Border Patrol and the evolving presence of the military, and extensive interviews with law enforcement agents, coyotes, migrant workers, truckers and politicians. Danelo's Spanish is limited, as are his excursions into Mexico, making his narrative lean to the U.S. and English-speaking side of the equation. He also insists the military has a role to play in securing the border, an argument some may see as colored by his expected sympathies, given his background. Still, his overall assessment moves considerably beyond the simplistic war-zone rhetoric in the media, offering well-grounded if cautious hope for the future. Photos. (Aug.)
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Review

Marine veteran Danelo's picturesque reportage from both sides of the 1,952-mile line separating the United States and Mexico - the world's most traversed national frontier - reveals how the fraught political debate around immigration and border security masks a very complex set of issues, geographies, economic and emotional ties, histories and subcultures. Inserting himself squarely into the narrative, Danelo builds his account on firsthand impressions gathered while traveling along and across the border, splicing his strong first-person testimonials with analysis of the U.S. Border Patrol and the evolving presence of the military, and extensive interviews with law enforcement agents, coyotes, migrant workers, truckers and politicians. Danelo's Spanish is limited, as are his excursions into Mexico, making his narrative lean to the U.S. and English-speaking side of the equation. He also insists the military has a role to play in securing the border, an argument some may see as colored by his expected sympathies, given his background. Still, his overall assessment moves considerably beyond the simplistic war-zone rhetoric in the media, offering well-grounded if cautious hope for the future. --Publishers Weekly

As a former military man, Mr. Danelo understands the hard-pressed officers of the Border Patrol, but he sympathises also with ordinary Mexicans lured to America by the dream of prosperity…He understands too the anguish of Americans who feel swamped by a rising tide of narcotics-fuelled violence…If you want a feel for the strange, dangerous and inspiring entity that is both the border and la frontera, this is a pretty good place to start. --The Economist

In 'The Border', author David Danelo set out on a lone journey from one end of the border to the other, to see if he could crack the code on this troubled - but unexpectedly seductive - human and natural landscape....Activists, left or right, will find this book uncomfortable, but its honesty makes it a great education for the rest of us. As for conclusions, Danelo isn't in the easy-answers business. --Ralph Peters, The New York Post

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Stackpole Books (August 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811703932
• ISBN-13: 978-0811703932
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #831,191 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Border; a strong second work, August 16, 2008

By 

Patricia J. Wurster (East Aurora, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide (Hardcover)

The region, along with David Danelo's writing, is complex. His storytelling does not simply follow the linear path from east to west along `la frontera' that he traveled. He carefully integrates its history, geography, people and culture with the political issues and U.S. policies that many of us are trying to understand. Danelo has the ability to make connections between disparate topics and present them in a readable way.

I found his relationship with `la frontera' itself captivating, deeply emotional and at times funny. His personal reflections along this journey allow the reader to not only understand his perspective, but give the reader an opportunity to examine and develop their own points of view. He and `la frontera' become The Border's main characters. It is no coincidence that he drives a rented Toyota hatchback, hoofs around in a pair of boots from WalMart or walks into a hotel restaurant wearing his black Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America t-shirt. He negotiates trust with a possible informant, meets many people who live and work on either side of the border, and plans an illegal border crossing like the professional he is. He places himself, conspicuously, in the center of this book and wrestles with both the US-Mexican border (cultural) and the US-Mexico border (geographical).

Danelo describes with respect the deaths of two young men who lived on the border eternally linked to the United States Marine Corps. One, a Marine, fought and died with honor while serving in Iraq. The other never had the chance to serve. Each young man's life and death represents different issues that Danelo raises; immigration and drug trafficking, as well as the larger issue of securing America.

David Danelo is a gifted young writer who challenges storytelling while revealing 'la frontera'. The Border is a strong second major work worth reading.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another blockbuster !!, August 13, 2008

By 

Andrew Lubin "author of Charlie Battery; A Ma... (Bucks County, Pa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide (Hardcover)

Is the Mexican-American border defensible? Should it be? These are questions that our politicians in Washington should be asking, but are not, so former Marine David Danelo drove the 1,951.63 mile border from the Gulf of Mexico's Boca Chica, Texas to Border Field State Park on California's Pacific coast, and he asks the questions for us.

Danelo took three months driving along both sides of the border, and his interviews and observations illuminate the growing divide between the two countries, and also whether or not the real crisis is immigration or narcotics. Talking with citizens of both Mexico and the United States in the major border cities of Matamoros - Laredo - Ciudad Juarez - Nogales- and San Diego, he personalizes the situation with a series of interviews with Border Patrol agents local sheriff's, church groups, Minutemen, various American and Mexican citizens, and even a couple of Mexican teenagers who were about to be deported.

It is when talking to these young men, and a Mormon couple in Arizona, that Danelo cuts to the heart of the matter "why do Americans hate us so much," the teenager asks, "why do they pay us so much to work for them, and then kick us out?" An interesting question, to be sure, and especially when posed to the couple who run a restaurant in Arizona. The husband and wife find themselves torn between wanting to obey American immigration law, yet troubled that not only do American teenagers refuse work as busboys and dishwashers, but that they are breaking the law by providing work that gives hope, dignity, and survival to otherwise impoverished individuals. These are good questions, and ones whose eventual answers will help provide solutions to the problem.

The immigration question is a complex one, and Danelo touches on its many facets. The issues are a combination of economics, growth of the `narcotraficantes' and the recent orgy of `narco-killings', cultural change as American demographics morph from Anglo to Latino...all of which is due to a slowly failing state (Mexico) whose citizens are fleeing by the hundreds of thousands for a better life. Similar to situation in Iraq, where peace came only after the Iraqi government became engaged with their own citizens, the immigration situation must include the Mexican government becoming more engaged in resolving those conflicts that otherwise send its citizens walking north.

The first 535 copies of "The Border" printed should be delivered to our congressmen and senators. This is a book that discusses immigration without a political slant, which makes it a rarity in these days of Lou Dobbs-led hysteria. "The Border" is an impartial, honest, and well-written synposis of the situation on the border; Danelo asks all the right questions - now let's see if anyone in Washington can provide an equally thoughtful answer.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice style, could have been longer, though..., January 8, 2010

By 

D. Lemcke "Thanatos" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide (Hardcover)

This book started out strong as the author worked his way west from the Brownsville area. But by the time he got to El Paso, he seemed to fizzle out. He even admitted later on that he was physically drained and that his research was taking its toll on him. Not much time was spent in Arizona vis a vis its role in the current dynamics of the border; even less time was devoted to New Mexico. I found it curious that he seemed obsessed with describing everyone's clothing, including his own. At one point he related a situation in which his lack of fluency in Spanish hindered him when he was lost. In a reflective tone, he wrote how he never did learn the word for highway (carreterra). Learning it later would have made for a stronger anecdote.

There is considerable research throughout, making it a fun read, with smooth segueways between historical events and current conditions. I just would have like to see this kind of strength carried a little further.