Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Police, Waterworks, and the Construction of the U.S.-Mexico Border, 1924–1954

2019; Oxford University Press; Volume: 50; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/whq/whz046

1939-8603

C J Alvarez,

Asian American and Pacific Histories

Abstract This article examines four major building projects on the U.S.-Mexico border: the straightening of the Rio Grande around El Paso–Ciudad Juárez, the assemblage of the first large-scale border fence, the fabrication of early Border Patrol watchtowers, and the construction of Falcon Dam. These were the first major efforts to transform the international divide through the built environment. By putting these seemingly dissimilar initiatives into conversation with one another, we can better understand the connections between the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the little-known International Boundary and Water Commission; rethink how the political and social construction of the border was achieved through literal, physical construction; and generate new ways of linking border and environmental history.