AUSTIN—Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released the paper, A Brief History of Border Security: 1836 to Present.

“The simple truth is, the U.S.-Mexico border has never really been secure,” said John Daniel Davidson, senior fellow for the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Right on Immigration initiative. “Amid the insecurity, the border has always been active. In recent decades, it has become a conduit for large-scale economic trade, both legal and illegal. The arrival of NAFTA in the 1990s brought an unprecedented volume of northbound traffic through U.S. ports of entry, as well as real prosperity to historically poor communities across south Texas.”

Key Points:

  • In the past, both the federal and Texas governments have intervened directly in northern Mexico when the Mexican state was unable or unwilling to guarantee law and order along the border.
  • From the Texas Revolution to the current migrant crisis, the U.S.-Mexico border has never really been secure.
  • Often, changes in U.S. border policy have had unintended and unforeseen consequences, with major implications for legal and illegal immigration.
  • In a historic shift, Mexican drug cartels and migrant smuggling networks have monetized illegal immigration and are now making billions annually off the border crisis.
  • In the past, both the federal and Texas state governments did not shy away from imposing order in northern Mexico when the Mexican government was unable or unwilling to do so.

To read the paper in full, please visit:

https://www.texaspolicy.com/a-brief-history-of-border-security-1836-to-present/