Midnight on the Line
The Secret Life of the U.S.-Mexico Border
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A probing, ground-level investigation of illegal immigration and the people on both sides of the battle to secure the U.S.–Mexico border
With illegal immigration burning as a contentious issue in American politics, Reuters reporter Tim Gaynor went into the underbelly of the border and to the heart of illegal immigration: along the 45-mile trek down the illegal alien "superhighway." Through scorpion-strewn trails with Mexican migrants and drug smugglers, he met up with a legendary group of Native American trackers called the Shadow Wolves, and traveled through the extensive network of tunnels, including the "Great Tunnel" from Tijuana to Otay Mesa, California. Along the way, Gaynor also meets Minutemen and exposes corruption among the Border Patrol agents who exchange sex or money for helping smugglers.
The issue of illegal immigration has a complexity beyond any of the political rhetoric. Combining top-notch investigative journalism with a narrative style that delves into the human condition, Gaynor reveals the day-to-day realities on both sides of "the line."
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 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.