Run for the Border: Vice and Virtue in U.S.-Mexico Border Crossings

235 Pages·2012·1.305 MB·English

by  Steven W. Bender

Run for the Border
CITIZENSHIP AND MIGRATION IN THE AMERICAS
General Editor: Ediberto Román
Tierra y Libertad: Land, Liberty, and Latino Housing
Steven W. Bender
No Undocumented Child Left Behind:
Plyler v. Doe and the Education of Undocumented Schoolchildren
Michael A. Olivas
Marginal Workers:
How Legal Fault Lines Divide Workers and
Leave Them without Protection
Ruben J. Garcia
Run for the Border:
Vice and Virtue in U.S.–Mexico Border Crossings
Steven W. Bender
Run for the Border
Vice and Virtue in
U.S.-Mexico Border Crossings
Steven W. Bender
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEWYORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2012 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs
that may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bender, Steven.
Run for the border : vice and virtue in U.S.-Mexico border crossings / Steven W. Bender.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-8952-0 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-8953-7 (ebook)
ISBN 978-0-8147-2322-7 (ebook)
1.  Emigration and immigration law — United States.
2.  Mexican-American Border Region — Emigration and immigration.
3.  Fugitives from justice — Mexico. 4.  Fugitives from justice — United States.
5.  Emigration and immigration law — Mexico.
6.  Border security — Mexican-American Border Region. 7.  United States — Foreign
relations — Mexico. 8.  Mexico — Foreign relations — United States.  I.
Title.
KF4819.B46 2012
325’.2720973 — dc23 2011045432
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To my compañero, Gil Carrasco,
always game for a border run,
and to Keith Aoki, who taught me
how to cross borders in academia.
This page intentionally left blank
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I. Running for the Border to Escape Justice
1 El Fugitivo 11
Part II. Economic Motivations for Southbound Border Runs
2 Gringos in Paradise 31
3 A Giant Sucking Sound 40
Part III. Illicit Motivations for Southbound Border Runs
4 Margaritaville: The Lure of Alcohol 57
5 Losin’ It: Prostitution and the Child Sex Trade 70
6 Going Southbound: Mexican Divorces and Medical 79
Border Runs
Part IV. Economic Motivations for Northbound Border Runs
7 Rum-Running for the Border 91
8 Acapulco Gold 95
9 Coming to America 114
Part V. A Framework for Comprehensive Border Reform
10 Lessons from 150 Years of Border Crossings 141
11 Good Neighbor Immigration Policy 158
| vii
12 Reefer Madness 163
13 A Framework for Southbound Crossings 172
14 Laws the Border Leaves Behind 177
Conclusion 183
Notes 185
Index 221
About the Author 224
viii | Contents
Acknowledgments
As always, I am grateful for those who invested their considerable
time in reviewing this manuscript or in contributing ideas along the way,
including Raquel Aldana, Keith Aoki, Ray Caballero, Gil Carrasco, Evelyn
Cruz, and Ediberto Román.
The University of Oregon law school supported my research in several
respects, from a 2010 summer research award to the usual invaluable help
of our research librarian Angus Nesbit and, in 2010, from my secretary Jenn
Peters Kepka, whose editorial expertise I enjoyed during her year with us.
My former student Stefanie Herrington, former editor of the Oregon Law
Review, contributed her own superb editing skills. My research assistants
Charley Gee, Leticia Hernandez, Kara Palombo, and especially Daniel Prince
submitted timely and helpful work. Seattle University School of Law, my new
institutional home, supported this research as well.
Once again I had the privilege of working with the great NYU Press team,
especially Deborah Gershenowitz and Despina Papazoglou Gimbel. I’m hon-
ored by this book’s inclusion in the NYU Press series Citizenship and Migra-
tion in the Americas, and especially thank series editor Ediberto Román for
his vision and dedication in creating the series.
| ix