“In or out?” : um estudo de caso sobre as práticas de vigilância tecnológica na fronteira entre os Estados Unidos e o México durante a política migratória do Migrant Protection Protocols (MPP 1.0) entre 2018 e 2021

Abstract

The migratory relationship between the United States of America (USA) and Mexico is marked by historical tensions. Faced with the intense flow of people seeking to enter US territory through the southern border, the USA implements mechanisms to control this crossing. With the advent of new surveillance technologies, North American migration policy regarding the US-Mexico border has been tightened even further. During the first Trump administration (2017-2021), the militarization and technologization of the border were linked to the "Migrant Protection Protocols" (MPP 1.0) policy. In this context, this final paper aims to analyze how surveillance practices on the US-Mexico border between 2018 and 2021 reinforce a historical process of militarization and racialization within US immigration policy. Thus, the importance of this study is justified by the opportunity to deepen the politicization of technical tools used for rigorous surveillance at the US-Mexico border. To achieve this, we will utilize a qualitative and quantitative approach as our methodology, operationally defined as a descriptive case study based on a stratified sampling approach of the nine strategic Border Patrol sectors. For analytical purposes, the empirical universe was divided into three groups based on the volume and nature of the official data: Group 1 constitutes the central focus of the integrated analysis, composed of the high-impact triad (El Paso, Tucson, and San Diego); and Groups 2 and 3 incorporate the remaining six sectors in a grouped and complementary manner, balancing the cartographic completeness of the MPP 1.0 enforcement against the available documentary sources. The empirical design combines a literature review and document analysis with the extraction and triangulation of official statistical data obtained from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) platforms. In this way, we hope to contribute to the understanding of new migratory control techniques within a historical setting of segregation.