Joseph Nevins

In the following viewpoint, Joseph Nevins analyzes Operation Gatekeeper, an initiative begun in 1994 during the Clinton presidency by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) to prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the Mexico-California border. He argues that the Border Patrol, given greater resources, has successfully discouraged illegal immigration into the city of San Diego, but the result has been an increase in illegal border crossings in remote mountain and desert areas. Nevins argues that the INS is thus at least partially responsible for the deaths of the migrants who have perished while attempting to enter the United States. Furthermore, he contends, Operation Gatekeeper has had the effect of discouraging resident illegal immigrants from returning to Mexico. The United States must develop more productive and humane approaches to illegal immigration than militarizing...