Operation Gatekeeper: The Rise of the “Illegal Alien” and the Remaking of the U.S. – Mexico Boundary

By 1994 American anti-immigration rhetoric had reached a fevered pitch, and throngs of migrants entered the U.S. nightly. In response, the INS launched “Operation Gatekeeper,” the centerpiece of the Clinton administration’s unprecedented effort to “regain control” of our borders. In Operation Gatekeeper , Joseph Nevins details the administration’s dramatic overhaul of the San Diego-Tijauna border-the busiest land crossing in the world-adding miles of new fence and hundreds of trained agents.