The U.S.-Mexico border wasn’t always so closely tied to immigration control. In fact, the border at Otay Mesa, San Diego, the first federally funded border fence, was built by the Bureau of Animal Industry to stop the movement of cattle ticks that had been responsible for a widespread cattle disease in the United States. It wasn’t until the middle of the twentieth century that border fences became a tool to regulate and restrict human migration.
Exploring the U.S.-Mexico border from an environmental perspective, the below collection of articles from Environmental History sheds light on the far-reaching impact of this international boundary.
“Treacherous Terrain: Racial Exclusion and Environmental Control at the U.S.-Mexico Border” by Mary E. Mendoza
“Neighbors by Nature: Rethinking Region, Nation, and Environmental History in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands” by Samuel Truett
“Border Chasm: International Boundary Parks and Mexican Conservation, 1935–1945” by Emily Wakild
Image credit: Algodones sand-dune fence by US Border Patrol. Public domain via Wikipedia.