Immigration at the US-Mexico Border: Changes under Biden and Trump

Immigration at the US-Mexico border has undergone major changes in the past decade with varying responses from different presidential administrations. The more than 2 million arrivals per year from 2022-2024 to the US' southern border was part of a larger shift in the nature of migration to the US, from largely single men from neighboring Mexico and Northern Central American countries seeking employment, to entire family groups who had been displaced by political, economic, and environmental turmoil at home.  Although US policy has consistently focused on deterrence and externalizing its border,  government policies have led to major changes at the US-Mexico border in recent years. Drs. Blue and Devine will give an overview of changes in US policies and immigrant arrivals at the border, discussing policy consequences for migrant arrivals and for organized crime. They will draw on a recent research project that included over 150 interviews with migrant families and local experts conducted in 2023-2024.

Geographies of Migration and (In)Security at the US-MX Border
Research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) 2002-2025

Sarah Blue is the Jones Professor of Southwestern Studies and an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University.  She has maintained an ongoing interest in the political geography of migration, gender, and development studies.  Her current research focuses on irregular transit migration to the US-Mexico border.

Jennifer Devine is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Texas State University.  She is a critical human geographer and political ecologist who studies human-environmental relations, US-Central American politics, community resource management, grassroots social movements, global drug policy, and tourism and heritage management.