Dr. Reece Jones argued that the United States-Mexico border has “intentionally weaponized nature” by increasing security measures, causing a sharp uptick in deaths of migrants, at a Clarke Forum lecture.

Jones gave an overview of the changes of borders in terms of security, laws and people’s movement throughout human history. According to Jones, the purpose of borders has shifted throughout time as the infrastructure around them has changed. Originally, borders and states didn’t exist, but they first formed as military lines at which different states would protect themselves.  In this phase, borders often feature walls, such as the Great Wall of China.  As societies evolved, borders became lines of sovereignty, distinguishing between political powers and their territories of rule.  At this stage, borders consisted of lines on a map.  Jones then explained that borders have again become militarized, but with the intent of controlling the movement of people and protecting privilege and wealth in states.

Jones, a professor of geography at the University of Hawaii, emphasized that borders, passports, custom control form a mechanism that protect people’s privileges in wealthy nations while excluding the poor from other countries from accessing them, as is the case with the  US-Mexico border.  The drastically increasing funding for border militarization in the U.S. in the past decades has resulted in migrants attempting to cross the border through more dangerous terrain, thus “intentionally weaponizing nature.”  These crossings though perilous places has resulted in increasing deaths, an effect seen not only on the US-Mexico border but also all around the world.

Jones showed that the death roll of people who tried to cross the borders continues to increase throughout the last two decades with data.  He reported that the number of border deaths has increased from 300 deaths in previous years globally to more than 8,000 deaths in 2016, 67.7% of these deaths happening in the Mediterranean Sea as a result of the Syrian Civil War.

With the increasing death roll around the globe along with the elevated border securitization, Jones argued that building walls and assigning more border patrol agents are intended to deter people from crossing in both the U.S. and Europe, but have failed to do so. Instead, people are “funneled” to more dangerous places when attempting to cross the border, resulting in more deaths.

In addition, Jones claimed that the countries around the world all have increased securitization of borders. The most common form of border is building defensive walls along the borderline, which Jones asserts is highly wasteful of resources and insufficient to solve problems such as human trafficking and drug deals.

Jones argued that borders are inherently violent, which reflects the state’s authority to control their land, people, and protect the privileges of those who live inside the borders while excluding and exploiting outsiders.

Jones presented the story of Sergio Hernández Guereca, a 15 years old Mexican boy, who, after attempting to reach the U.S. border for unclear reasons, returned to the Mexican border where he was shot to death by a U.S. border patrol agent. The agent later claimed that Guereca threw rocks at him and he felt his life was threatened. Guereca’s family later sued the agent. Although the U.S. Supreme court later ruled against Guereca, they made revisions on border patrol behavior code.

Jones concluded that passports, border controls, customs, and immigration laws are all mechanisms that keep the poor people out of privileges. Lastly, he drew a connection to the current administration’s travel ban as “Muslim bans,” reinforcing the idea that the border securitization is supported by the role of racism and nationalism.

The lecture sparked discussion among students.

“I thought the lecture was really enlightening,” said Michaela Zanis ’19. “I am currently in an English class that looks at migration and literature.”

Zanis added that “I think it is important to [think] about how borders create violence and the significance of the Supreme Court ruling against Sergio Hernández Guereca’s family in their lawsuit against the border patrol agent who shot and killed the 15-year-old boy.”

A book sale and signing followed the lecture, featuring Jones’ book: Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move.

The lecture, which was sponsored by the Clarke Forum, drew more than 60 Dickinson community members including students, faculty and staff attended the lecture on Monday, April 16.