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The Closing of the American Border: Terrorism, Immigration, and Security Since 9/11
The Closing of the American Border is a provocative, behind-the-scenes investigation into the consequences of America’s efforts to secure its borders since 9/11. Basing his conclusions on extensive interviews with former secretary of homeland security Tom Ridge, former secretary of state Colin Powell, other Bush administration officials, and many of the innocent people whose lives have been upended by the new border security and visa rules, Edward Alden offers a striking and compelling assessment of the dangers faced by a nation that cuts itself off from the rest of the world.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 22, 2017
A somewhat dated (2008) book that gives an even account of the good and the bad aspects of securing the borders. The author quotes a number of colleagues of mine and I trust and value their contributions to our industry. These colleagues ran up against some turf builders who were short sighted and not into the bigger picture.
Keep in mind that the book is from the 1998-2008 time frame. It discussed the period before 9/11, the immediate aftermath and then attempts to shore up the borders including better visa systems, building the wall (contrary to what many fear about a wall being built, the wall started going up in the middle of the last decade) and security at the airports and borders. There has been adjustments and hardships, but we have become slowly accustomed to the changes-TSA and the way out, CBP on the way in.
The book shows that there is a great deal of work to do to make America safe while allowing tourists in, important high level conferences, medical needs, trade and industry, migrant workers, students and more in. From 2008 on, there have been many advances made in making improvements and there still is a long way to go.
Keep in mind that the book is from the 1998-2008 time frame. It discussed the period before 9/11, the immediate aftermath and then attempts to shore up the borders including better visa systems, building the wall (contrary to what many fear about a wall being built, the wall started going up in the middle of the last decade) and security at the airports and borders. There has been adjustments and hardships, but we have become slowly accustomed to the changes-TSA and the way out, CBP on the way in.
The book shows that there is a great deal of work to do to make America safe while allowing tourists in, important high level conferences, medical needs, trade and industry, migrant workers, students and more in. From 2008 on, there have been many advances made in making improvements and there still is a long way to go.
September 30, 2015
A very well distilled origin story of the Department of Homeland Security - born of 9/11, or rather, created frankenstein-like from the bits and bones of a panoply of executive branch agencies. Alden does a number of things with this book that I think are great. At a high level, he provides a helpful narrative of two competing approaches to counterterrorism strategy post-9/11: the "cops" approach (the answer to every problem: tough enforcement of immigration laws) versus the "technocrat" approach (using technology - especially information systems - to keep bad guys out).
For the most part, the "cops" won out, to our detriment, I think. Alden makes a few conclusions on this experiment with the get-tough approach: that immigration enforcement and counterterrorism are two different things that need to be separated in order to be effective; that managing the risk of terrorism really means managing (not eliminating!) risk, because the consequences of trying to eliminate all the risks is worse than learning how to live with them; and that we need to be doing more to encourage good people to come in, rather than solely focusing on keeping the malefactors out. Agree, agree, agree. Summed up in one sentence: enforcing immigration laws does not catch terrorists; it catches immigration violators.
Along with all the moving parts of the US government's counterterrorism strategy over the last decade, the author does an excellent job parsing a host of new data collection efforts by DHS - travel data, student visa data, immigration data - in tandem with the interagency terrorist information and watchlist consolidation efforts that manifest through the National Counterterrorism Center and the Terrorist Screening Center. I know these things elicit yawns in many...but if any of this sounds remotely interesting, this is a great resource, one of the few books I've seen address so many DHS data sets so helpfully.
For the most part, the "cops" won out, to our detriment, I think. Alden makes a few conclusions on this experiment with the get-tough approach: that immigration enforcement and counterterrorism are two different things that need to be separated in order to be effective; that managing the risk of terrorism really means managing (not eliminating!) risk, because the consequences of trying to eliminate all the risks is worse than learning how to live with them; and that we need to be doing more to encourage good people to come in, rather than solely focusing on keeping the malefactors out. Agree, agree, agree. Summed up in one sentence: enforcing immigration laws does not catch terrorists; it catches immigration violators.
Along with all the moving parts of the US government's counterterrorism strategy over the last decade, the author does an excellent job parsing a host of new data collection efforts by DHS - travel data, student visa data, immigration data - in tandem with the interagency terrorist information and watchlist consolidation efforts that manifest through the National Counterterrorism Center and the Terrorist Screening Center. I know these things elicit yawns in many...but if any of this sounds remotely interesting, this is a great resource, one of the few books I've seen address so many DHS data sets so helpfully.
February 12, 2010
As someone who tends to view the entire treatment in the US of immigrants, tourists, and visa applicants as being at times disastrous, this book was really good in that it let me know where I was right, and also where I was wrong. I learned about the US' response to terrorism after 2001, and how counter-terrorism quickly became conflated with immigration control - to very bad effects. The author does a really good job of explaining the successes the US had - and detailing the at times very complicated procedures that were adopted. He also goes through the negative effects these procedures had and are still having, and he gives a very good assessment of how the policy-shift probably has done no more to prevent terrorism than a more open policy would have done, but the costs to the US have been incredible. I would have liked to have seen more on the constitutional and international legal implications of the US' policies, and at times the bigger picture is lost sight of for the details, but overall, this was a very good book. The intro and conclusion were also really nice in setting up the framework of national security policy and assessing how that framework has fared.
July 23, 2013
I'm going to try to finish this one. But in case I don't, here's my review:
I like the goal of the book (from what I can tell, three chapters in) -- to show the side effects of our closed borders. Such an important book should not be written so dryly. Immigration is one of a handful of political topics I have scary-strong opinions about, and even I was falling asleep. Sex it up! Dumb it down! This reads like a history book. I appreciate the efforts at detailed accuracy, but some things were better suited for footnotes. Basically, I am complaining that the book was too smart for my public-educated brain, but my 6th-grade reading level and short attention span is pretty much par for my generation.
What works for this book is its collection of short stories of real-life recipients of Yankee hospitality. The book has a satisfactory level of stats, but it's the stories that drive the numbers home.
(As an aside, I was delighted to find out why my husband kept getting asked, "Are you a terrorist?" throughout the immigration process. Not that I completely understand still, but I like knowing that at least some of the people in charge rolled their eyes over it, too.)
I like the goal of the book (from what I can tell, three chapters in) -- to show the side effects of our closed borders. Such an important book should not be written so dryly. Immigration is one of a handful of political topics I have scary-strong opinions about, and even I was falling asleep. Sex it up! Dumb it down! This reads like a history book. I appreciate the efforts at detailed accuracy, but some things were better suited for footnotes. Basically, I am complaining that the book was too smart for my public-educated brain, but my 6th-grade reading level and short attention span is pretty much par for my generation.
What works for this book is its collection of short stories of real-life recipients of Yankee hospitality. The book has a satisfactory level of stats, but it's the stories that drive the numbers home.
(As an aside, I was delighted to find out why my husband kept getting asked, "Are you a terrorist?" throughout the immigration process. Not that I completely understand still, but I like knowing that at least some of the people in charge rolled their eyes over it, too.)
April 18, 2016
The book focuses on how America went from being a relatively open nation, to being one of the least visitor friendly countries in the world. Alden offers multiple anecdotes of students who were denied visas or arrested for overstaying them, businesses who moved operations abroad to avoid visa hassles, and professionals who are detained on every re-entry despite a history of working and studying in the USA.
Alden claims that a large portion of the economic disruption could be mediated by sharing information across federal organizations, more widespread use of technology (10 digit fingerprints), and a distinction between terrorist threats and illegal immigration.
I found this book to be extremely informative, but fairly dry. There is a fair amount of detail into the political struggle between organizations. Alden fortunately added stories about a Pakistani doctor, several foreign students, and Microsoft to make the text more readable. This book does a fairly good job of accurately describing the changes immediately after 9/11, however many of those policies have changed once again (as of 2016).
Alden claims that a large portion of the economic disruption could be mediated by sharing information across federal organizations, more widespread use of technology (10 digit fingerprints), and a distinction between terrorist threats and illegal immigration.
I found this book to be extremely informative, but fairly dry. There is a fair amount of detail into the political struggle between organizations. Alden fortunately added stories about a Pakistani doctor, several foreign students, and Microsoft to make the text more readable. This book does a fairly good job of accurately describing the changes immediately after 9/11, however many of those policies have changed once again (as of 2016).
March 15, 2009
I thought that this was a really good, solid book. I learned a great deal about American immigration policy, Border Patrol and the Department of Homeland Security. I think that we have forgotten how much life has changed since 9/11 in America, and that we have not fully realized the effects of those changes in our country today. It can be argued that we are safer as a nation, but what will the unintended consequences of our protection?
This book was well written and was easy to stay interested in. There were a few times where the author made the same points in multiple chapters, but this is a well written account of the policy issues that have been attempted in order to keep America safe after 9/11.
This book was well written and was easy to stay interested in. There were a few times where the author made the same points in multiple chapters, but this is a well written account of the policy issues that have been attempted in order to keep America safe after 9/11.
July 6, 2013
Really interesting book on border security and immigration policy following 9/11. As an immigration paralegal, definitely opens my eyes to why certain problems happen within USCIS and DHS. Wasn't too moved by the sob stories in the opening paragraphs of people who've had their visas delayed. Chertoff's point about 'the Gresham law of politics' is relevant here - sob stories shouldn't define public policy. Overall this book really put immigration policy in perspective for me, and provided an interesting framework for assessing how well certain policies and ideas have fared. I was also interested to learn about President Bush's personal immigration beliefs and ideas, something I had known nothing about previously.
April 6, 2012
Fascinating -- It's amazing the bits and pieces of news and not news that I missed, or at least didn't put into prospective at the time. This view of how the US responded to 9/11 in terms of immigration == even to foreign students and visitors and business travelers is very interesting. It's hard to comprehend that some of these tools and measures are being effected by the US government -- they sound like techniques of Eastern European or Middle Eastern or terse Asian countries.
Very interesting, indeed.
Very interesting, indeed.
December 10, 2014
Great reporting, not much analysis but his main conclusion, that counterterrorism is best achieved through painstaking intelligence work and not the battering ram of large scale immigration controls and visa restrictions, is supported by his research. Alden is a reporter and the book shows the strengths and weaknesses of this approach; lots of well drawn profiles of individual actors with less probing of background.
May 4, 2009
The history of immigration in the US and the changes in how immigrants and visitors are viewed and processed since 9/11. Huge impacts on education and employment due to visa issues. Another thing that Obama needs to fix.
October 31, 2011
Now that I work at DHS, it was interesting to read the history of the department. Alden makes a pretty strong argument that the American reaction to curtailing immigration post 9/11 is the wrong decision. A bit repetitive and long-winded in places but still a good read.
June 13, 2013
Very interesting review of results of 9/11 on government changes to immigration departments and laws and how it affected illegal immigrants and suspected terrorists.
May 8, 2017
Great book on how and why we've tried to close our borders. See full comments here: http://relaxandhavefun.com/?p=55
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews