audiobook The A to Z of Buddhism (The A to Z Guide Series) by Carl Olson in History

Description

Thoughtful investigative report about a central issue of the 2008 presidential race that examines the border in human terms through a cast of colorful charactersAsks and answers the core questions: Should we close the border? Is a fence or wall the answer? Is the U.S. government capable of fully securing the border?Reviews the political; economic; social; and cultural aspects and discusses NAFTA; immigration policy; border security; and other local; regional; national; and international issuesMore than 250 million people cross the U.S.- Mexican border legally each year; and as many as 10 million do so illegally; making the border--la frontera to Mexicans--the most traversed national boundary on the planet. In an age of terrorism and economic uncertainty; that border is already one of the most hotly debated issues in American politics and is certain to play a prominent role in the 2008 campaign for president.In 2007; David Danelo spent three months traveling the 1;952 miles that separate the United States and Mexico; beginning at Boca Chica; Texas; and traveling to the westernmost limit at Border Field State Park in California--a journey that took him across four states and two countries through a world of rivers and canals; mountains and deserts; highways and dirt roads; fences and border towns. Here the border isn't just an abstraction thrown around in political debates in Washington; it's a physical reality; infinitely more complex than most politicians believe. Danelo's reporting digs beneath the debate and attempts to explain the border and related issues--from legal and illegal immigration to NAFTA and border fences--as they are experienced by the people who live and work there: businessmen; smugglers; Minutemen; migrants; humanitarians; border patrol agents; government officials; and everyday people in the U.S. and Mexico.The divide is great; as Danelo makes clear; but so is the opportunity. Refreshing in the new perspectives it offers and captivating in its depiction of this vibrant; if troubled; region; The Border is an essential starting point for understanding this vital topic.