Armed authorities watch from a military-grade surveillance tower as lines of people stream toward the security checkpoint, tickets in hand, anxious and excited to get through the gate. Few seem to notice or care that the U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring the Super Bowl, as they have for years, one of the many ways that forces created to police the borders are now being used, in an increasingly militarized fashion, to survey and monitor the whole of American society.
In fast-paced prose, Miller sounds an alarm as he chronicles the changing landscape. Travelling the country—and beyond—to speak with the people most involved with and impacted by the Border Patrol, he combines these first-hand encounters with careful research to expose a vast and booming industry for high-end technology, weapons, surveillance, and prisons. While politicians and corporations reap substantial profits, the experiences of millions of men, women, and children point to staggering humanitarian consequences. Border Patrol Nation shows us in stark relief how the entire country has become a militarized border zone, with consequences that affect us all.
Todd Miller has worked on U.S. border issues for over fifteen years. His writing has appeared in Mother Jones, The Nation, TomDispatch, Huffington Post, Al-Jazeera English, Common Dreams and many others.
Praise for Todd Miller:
"[Miller] offers a vision of what the military-industrial complex looks like once it's transported, jobs and all, to the U.S.-Mexican border and turned into a consumer mall for the post-9/11 era . . . [it’s] a striking and original picture."—Tom Engelhardt, TomDispatch
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