Cathleen Small - U.S. Borders

Published in 2018 by

Lucent Press, an Imprint of Greenhaven Publishing, LLC
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Copyright 2018 Lucent Press, an Imprint of Greenhaven Publishing, LLC.

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Designer: Jeni Child
Picture researcher: Rachel Blount
Editors: Sarah Eason and Nancy Dickmann

Picture credits: Cover: Shutterstock: Vinokurov Kirill (top), Peter Titmuss (main); Inside: Shutterstock: Orhan Cam 50, Richard Cavalleri 34, Sylvie Corriveau 47, CPQ 1617, Diego G Diaz 61, Doublex 48, Everett Historical 35, 3637, 38, 40, 43, Zack Frank 13, Martin Froyda 10, Jason and Bonnie Grower 57t, A Katz 32, Radoslaw Lecyk 39, Rainer Lesniewski 18, 57b, Marla Margarla 4, Philip Pilosian 27, 31, Michael Rosebrock 5859, Dan Schreiber 21, Mark Van Scyoc 33, Sherwood 55, Alan Smillie 4445, Sherry V Smith 5, Joseph Sohm 53, Spatuletail 9, James Steidl 60, Reinhard Tiburzy 19, Peter Titmuss 46, Tupungato 24, Volina 14, Jiri Vondrous 51, Sam Wagner 22, Wildnerdpix 8, Leonard Zhukovsky 29; U.S. Customs & Border Protection: Donna Burton 26; Wikimedia Commons: Donna Burton 12, Ad Meskens 15, Erik Oberg/Island Conservation 49, Police 28, Dan Sorensen 11, The United States government 7, UpstateNYer 6, John Yu/Connie Young Yu 42.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Small, Cathleen.

Title: U.S. borders / Cathleen Small.

Description: New York : Lucent Press, 2018. | Series: Crossing the border | Includes index. Identifiers: ISBN 9781534562509 (library bound) | ISBN 9781534562516 (ebook) | ISBN 9781534562813 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Border security--United States--Juvenile literature. | National security--Law and legislation--United States--Juvenile literature. | United States--Emigration and immigration--Juvenile literature.

Classification: LvCC JV6483.S63 2018 | DDC 363.2850973--dc23

Printed in the United States of America

CPSIA compliance information: Batch #CW18KL: For further information contact Greenhaven Publishing LLC, New York, New York at 1-844-317-7404.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER 1

The United StatesMexico Border

CHAPTER 2

The United StatesCanada Border

CHAPTER 3

U.S. Immigration and Border Agencies

CHAPTER 4

Immigration Islands

CHAPTER 5

Territories and International Waters

CHAPTER 6

Building the Wall

Glossary

For More Information

Index

CHAPTER 1

THE UNITED STATES-MEXICO BORDER

The United States has two main international land bordersone with Canada and one with Mexico. The border with Canada is actually longer than the border with Mexico, but the Mexican border is more heavily traveled and is definitely the more controversial as far as immigration is concerned.

United StatesMexico Border Geography While the United StatesMexico border is heavily traveled, its actually not that long when compared to the entire length of the United States. From east to west, the United States is about 2,800 miles (4,506 km) across, not counting Alaska and Hawaii. The mileage varies slightly depending on which cities are used as endpoints. The United States southern international border, with Mexico, is only 1,989 miles (3,201 km). Thats a long distance, but its only about two-thirds the width of the entire United States.

The United States lies between the countries of Canada and Mexico in the continent of North America.

The United StatesMexico border starts in the west at the Pacific Ocean, just south of San Diego, California. It then travels along the southern edges of California, Arizona, and New Mexico before reaching El Paso, Texas, at the western edge of the state. From there, the border follows the Rio Grande in a mostly southwest direction along the bottom edge of Texas. It ends at the Gulf of Mexico, just east of Brownsville, Texas. By far, the longest portion of the border on the United States side is through Texas, and the shortest is through California.

On the Mexico side, the border runs along the northern edges of six Mexican states. From west to east, they are Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Len, and Tamaulipas. In the Mexican states, the longest stretch of border runs through Chihuahua, and the shortest is through Nuevo Len.

BORDER CROSSINGS

People must cross the border between the two countries at an official border crossing point.There are a total of 48 border crossings along the United StatesMexico border, with a total of 330 ports of entry. This breaks down to four main crossing points in California, six in Arizona, two in New Mexico, and twelve in Texas.Each of these main border crossings can have multiple crossing points. They might include roads for cars and other vehicles, walkways for pedestrians, railroads for trains, and ferries for water crossings.

At Border Field State Park beach in San Diego, a wall extends out into the ocean to separate the United States from Mexico.

THE BUSIEST BORDER CROSSING

California actually has the shortest shared border with Mexico of any of the four U.S. states that border it. And California borders only one Mexican state (Baja California), while the other three states all border at least two. But nevertheless, the busiest border crossing on the United StatesMexico border happens to fall in California. Its called the San Ysidro Port of Entry, and it goes between San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico. An average of about 40,000 vehicles cross from Tijuana to San Diego each day, along with about 19,000 pedestrians. And that is just the people crossing the border into the United States.

Part of the reason this crossing is so busy is that many Mexicans living in Tijuana are legally employed in San Diego. And some Americans live in the nearby Mexican towns of Tijuana, Rosarito Beach, and Ensenada. They commute into the United States each day for school or work.

Northbound traffic waits to enter San Ysidro, California.

History of the Border

The Mexican territory used to extend farther into the United States than it does now. The region was originally controlled by the Spanish, who called it the Kingdom of New Spain. In the early 1800s the United States completed the Louisiana Purchase, in which it bought a huge area of land west of the Mississippi River from France. Settlers soon began to move to this new region. Shortly thereafter, Mexico gained its independence from Spain and began to try to establish a northern border.

By 1842, Mexico had established its current territory, but it also expanded far north of where it ends today. Most of California, Arizona, and New Mexico were part of Mexico, along with parts of Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Utah. The Mexican government had tried to establish a population in what is now Texas, but Texas declared independence in 1836. It was later annexed by the United States in 1845.