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The Effects Of Geospatial-Intelligence On United States-Mexico Border Security, Heather Martin

Dissertations

Following the September 11, 2001 (9/11) terror attacks on American soil, politicians and the media drew a parallel between US-Mexican border security issues such as illegal immigration, and terrorism, highlighting an increased need to secure our southern border in an effort to prevent another 9/11-style terror attack (Maril 2011). Under securitization theory, the linking of border security issues such as illegal immigration to terrorism can be defined as a securitization act or more simply put, the portrayal of a specific issue as a threat to national security (Balzcaq 2011). Once an issue has been deemed a threat (“securitized”), the use …