Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, cities and towns across the U.S. southwest have experienced first-hand the consequences of the new U.S. security-oriented national ethos and practices - embodied in the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and its implementation along the 2100 miles of U.S.-Mexico border. The optimistic talk of the 1990s regarding trade, investment, and economic integration in North America has given way to a rhetoric focused on security, particularly securing and controlling all points of entry to and exit from the United States. This comprehensive security strategy permeates the three border 'wars' - the 'war on drugs', enforcement of immigration laws, and the 'war on terror'. The effects of these three wars on the borderlands have been significant and include a loss of local autonomy, conflicts between the priorities of Washington and those the local populations, a rigid international line that represents a barrier to economic, social, and cultural integration, and a source of fear and suspicion between neighbours. The author traces the history of these policies on the border to discern and understand the evolutionary patterns and common threads that join all three policies together today. He argues that historically the border has experienced a gradual tightening and increasing militarisation, culminating in today's restrictive environment. This book illuminates the ways in which border residents are coping with the stricter border security environment and how they navigate their daily lives in the midst of an increasing number of federal bureaucrats and programmes designed to close the border.