Border Wars (Boston Review Books) [Hardcover]

Tom Barry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2011 | Series: Boston Review Books

The Tea Party and its allies celebrate the rogue states of the Southwest as a model for the nation in their go-it-alone posturing and tough immigration-enforcement talk. In Border Wars, dogged investigative journalist Tom Barry documents the costs of that model: lives lost; families torn apart; billions of wasted tax dollars; vigilantes prowling the desert; and fiscal crises in cities, counties, and states. Even worse, he warns, the entire nation risks following their lead. As Barry explains, the lack of coherent federal policy on immigration and drug war conduct and the uncritical embrace of all things in the name of national security has opened doors for opportunists from boardrooms to governor's offices in Texas and Arizona. Corporate-prison magnates eagerly swallow up undocumented immigrants into taxpayer-funded dungeons, border sheriffs and politicians trade on voters' fears of Latinos and "big government," and pro-business policy institutes and lobbyists battle the public interest. Border Wars offers a stark portrait of the domestic cost of failed federal leadership in the post-9/11 era.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Tom Barry, Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for International Policy, is author of many books, including The Great Divide and Zapata's Revenge. His article "A Death in Texas" was a finalist for a 2010 National Magazine Award for reporting in the public interest.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press; 1 edition (August 26, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262016672
• ISBN-13: 978-0262016674
• Product Dimensions: 4.5 x 0.6 x 7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #593,210 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Short, skimpy, and one sided January 25, 2012

By Michael Plasmeier

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I selected this book thinking it would be a review of US Border policy. Instead, it's a very short account (~160 pages, paperback-sized book with big margins) of two accounts of recent US policy on the border: namely private prisons and federal funding of local police departments, along with the recent popular-ism state laws in Arizona. The author had no additional insights to add to these topics - just that he opposes these efforts. There were a few antidotes about particular cases that the author signaled out. In general the book taught me little that I didn't already know.

If you want to see the border apparatus in action, I recommend the National Geographic TV series of the same name.

I was expected better from the MIT Press - I've usually had very good experiences with them.