Midnight on the Line: The Secret Life of the U.S.-Mexico Border (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Amado Coello is sixty-two years old, a salt-and-pepper-haired retiree with a gentle, grandfatherly manner that gives him the air of a fairy-tale cobbler..." (more)
Key Phrases: drug tunnel, inspection booths, virtual fence, Border Patrol, United States, San Diego (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Gaynor, a Reuters reporter who has been covering the 2,000-mile length of the U.S.–Mexico border since 2004, conjures up life on both sides in this uneven debut. He spends the first section explaining a typical migrant's trek across the Arizona border by making an aborted attempt at the journey himself. His reportage typically pits good-guy border-patrol agents against bad-guy human and drug traffickers—accounts colored by his wide-eyed admiration for the border patrol's effectiveness. He profiles coyotes—the people who lead migrants across the border and charge exorbitant rates—marveling at their ingenuity (e.g., an underground tunnel between Tijuana and Otay Mesa, Calif.). For such an able storyteller, Gaynor is disappointingly uncritical of any side of the border or immigration debate and provides little new information. Excessive attention is given to border police corruption and possible links between the border and terrorism, both low-priority issues on the list of U.S. border-policy malfunctions. It's no surprise when Gaynor concludes, The [U.S.] government is clearly getting a better hold on the line than ever before, without having seriously challenged the wisdom of any facet of border policy. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Gaynor is a Reuters reporter, living in Phoenix and specializing in immigration coverage. Here he covers both the illegal immigrant experience and the tactics used by the U.S. Border Patrol to curtail the trek from south to north by interviewing former drug smugglers, migrants, coyotes (the transporters), and border guards. He and his photographer colleague attempt, but fail to complete, a typical immigrant journey from Altar, in the Sonoran desert, to Three Points, southwest of Tucson. Gaynor describes how the drug cartels have become increasingly involved in human smuggling during their “off months,” employing the same brutal tactics and extortion. He details the battle for drug supremacy in Tijuana, “the jewel in the crown of Mexican drug trafficking,” and observes drug and human movement over the border to California by car, truck, and tunnel. He interviews Border Patrol agents, Black Hawk helicopter pilots, Minutemen, and members of the discreet Special Response Teams, including skilled Native American trackers known as the Shadow Wolves. A fascinating window into the intricacies of this complex, often over-politicized problem. --Deborah Donovan

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books; 1 edition (March 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031236671X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312366711
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #443,194 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A worthwhile book to read, April 11, 2009

By	Joel Feuer (new york city) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I enjoyed reading this book, for I enjoy receiving a "behind the scenes" view of activities, businesses, or notable occurrences. I felt the book was balanced in the sense of how materials were presented- the author demonstrates the broad difficulty of the problem, while also presenting, in detail, successful strategies being used to combat it. I respect the amount of research that the writer placed into this book- traveling to a prison in Mexico City, traveling to Detroit to report on smuggling, attempting to travel the desert himself- I particularly liked the chapter he did on corrupt border agents, it is not often within the law enforcement community that there is cooperation in showing how anti-corruption efforts are engaged.
This was a worthwhile book, I read it in 3 days, I was very pleased by it. Joel

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Timely & fascinating topic, but without enough context -- 3.5 stars, April 7, 2009

By	S. McGee (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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For what it is -- a reporter's overview of the day-to-day lives of the smugglers (of drugs, people and weapons) on the US/Mexico border and the law enforcement personnel (chiefly those in the United States -- this is a good book. And anyone who wants a solid overview of what life is like trying to work "the line" at the San Diego border crossings with a K-9 unit, patrolling the border in a helicopter or investigating corrupt immigration cops, will get a solid overview.

The problem is that such a timely, controversial and crucial issue cries out for a more comprehensive, analytical and thoughtful treatment. It's not that there is anything amiss with what is here -- it's lively, intriguing, thought-provoking and rich in first-hand detail. But it simply doesn't go far enough; it's like reading a series of long newspaper articles on different aspects of the question, none of which ever drill deeply enough beneath the surface for the reader to form their own thoughts or opinions.

Gaynor is clear that his goal isn't to address issues of immigration policy. But failing to do so makes the book far too lightweight. Nor does he provide enough historical context for those who aren't already familiar with border issues. Anyone looking here for a clue as to when illegal immigration across the southern border of the US became such a hot potato issue will look in vain. Was it in the 1970s, when the economy went down the drain, and jobs became so scarce? There's no clue. Similarly, although Gaynor is obviously familiar with the provinces of origin of the migrants he encounters in his research, he never shares much of that knowledge with us, beyond noting that a certain province is poverty-stricken, or a handful of details of a particular migrant's life. Surely, understanding more of the context in which would-be migrants live would show more clearly than anything else the reason why they are so desperate to walk for a week across the Sonoran desert, risking death? Indeed, the focus is so heavily on the US side of the law enforcement side of things that I kept wondering what was happening to Mexican law enforcement, which emerged only intermittently in Gaynor's narrative. I know from following news developments that there is a massive corruption problem, and that many go in daily fear of their lives. It would have been fascinating to see their daily struggle to police the border contrasted with that of their American counterparts.

There is nothing inherently wrong with what is in the book -- it just doesn't do justice to the complex landscape of the US/Mexico border today. I understand that it's easier to narrow the scope of a book to something that is manageable, but sometimes that isn't a strategy that readers will find rewarding. In this case, it felt as if Gaynor had mined his reporter's notebook for the most interesting bits of his ongoing coverage of his 'beat' and fleshed out each as a separate chapter. If he'd taken the time to dig deeper, this could have been an excellent book. As it stands, by the time you read the fourth or fifth chapter devoted to policing the board, a kind of 'echo effect' sets in.

The introductory chapter is an interesting one that doesn't really reflect what is going on in the book as a whole. In it, Gaynor and a colleague make the trek across the border the same way that an illegal immigrant would (although they stop and have their passports scrutinized.) After reading it, and moving on to the rest of the book, I was struck by how out of place it is in this narrative, and it ended up feeling a bit too much like a stunt: "Western reporter tries to feel what it's like to be a desperate Central American migrant!" I realize that isn't what was intended, but while it will give some readers a sense of what is involved, it's the feeling I was left with. I also ended up contrasting this, in my own mind, with an article I read a while ago (the New York Times magazine perhaps?), in which the reporter had traveled all the way to the border alongside the migrants he was writing about. The story in that case was about their sufferings and their stories, not the reporter's own. And the real test of a writer's ability to make you feel that you know the characters so well that you care what happens to them -- even in a nonfiction book.

What you will get in reading this book is a serviceable, often lively and interesting survey of how various agencies go about policing the border these days. What you won't get is any historical, social, political or economic context (or very little of it). If the topic isn't already one in which a reader is passionately interested, this isn't a book that will change that, sadly enough. Which is why I have rounded my rating down to 3 stars rather than up to 4, as I typically would do. The great "Border War" chronicle, it seems has yet to be written. (Or if it has, I haven't found it yet!)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Educational!, March 28, 2009

By	Loyd E. Eskildson "Pragmatist" (Phoenix, AZ.) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Gaynor takes readers to the realities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Entire families sometimes try to cross, including late-term pregnant women, months-old babies, and people in their sixties. Feet full of blisters, toes beaten to a pulp from stumbling against rocks in the dark, intestinal parasites from drinking at cattle troughs, and dehydration await the lucky ones the live.

Temperatures in southern Arizona reach 115 degrees in the heat of summer, there are also bandits seeking drugs and money, snakes and scorpions as well.

Backpacks (including changes of socks), and long sleeves and heavy jeans are needed - the latter for protection from the thorns. Cactus spines on the dirt roads can slice through tire walls - multiple spares are essential. Canned food, candy, electrolytic re-hydration powders and water are also essential. Water jugs also provide a map and basic directions on the side for the 3 - 6 day walk.

Garlic is reputed to be an effective repellent for poisonous desert denizens - rub your feet, socks, shoes, and pants for lifetime protection.

"Ganchos" recruit migrants in their home towns, coyotes lead them over the desert, and short-haul drivers spirit them from desert load-outs for Tucson and Phoenix where they are held prisoner in drop-houses until their fees are paid by their sponsors. For around $1,200/head, a guide will walk migrants over the desert as part of a group before handing them to drivers en route to Phoenix. A few hundred more gets an express trip by truck.

Narcos now charge the human smugglers for protection, and coordinate movements to provide cover for their own activities; sometimes they torch vans en route (w/o occupants, thankfully) to demonstrate their control. Spotters, some deep inside Arizona, look out for U.S. Border police - some smugglers have satellite phones.

The author and his associate intended to walk from the border to a load-out in summer to experience what the trip was like. After two days and half-way, they gave up due to exhaustion. (Why anyone tries this in the summer is beyond my comprehension.)

Smugglers picking up at load-out points often limit movement of their truck springs with a metal brace or wooden blocks - the trucks looks empty but is vulnerable to tipping over without warning. Spotters, ahead and behind, have been known to set off at high speed upon seeing Highway or Border Patrol cars, acting as a diversion. Trailing vehicles sometimes even stop to pick up migrants fleeing after their vehicle is stopped.

Stolen vehicles are often used as they are subject to forfeiture when used in smuggling. Another ploy is to buy used vehicles at seedy Phoenix lots for about a 15% premium, pay cash, get title in a false name and address, a false lien on the vehicle that prevents it from being seized (instead, it is returned to the lien-holder and then the owner), and the right to park the vehicle at the used-car lot when not in use.

Increasingly, drug smugglers are involved, bringing added levels of violence - raiding competitors' drop houses or shipments. Electric cattle prods and beatings are used to keep migrants in line, and extort money from relatives.

Gaynor also tells of instances of Border Patrol corruption - an individual can make a year's salary in one night simply waving through cars with illegals at checkpoints. Prosecution is made difficult by coyotes constantly changing phones to frustrate wiretaps, and use of coded language.

Finally, the author reports how Hezbollah has used the same system to sneak individuals into the U.S., and how the rough southern Arizona countryside hampers high-technology.

One topic was not addressed. Thousands of Mexican citizens cross into the U.S. daily to shop at El Paso, Nogales, etc. How does the Border Patrol manage to keep illegals, with no intention of returning to Mexico, out?