ABSTRACT
The effects of Operation Gatekeeper, and the great increase in boundary and immigration enforcement more generally, have been undoubtedly significant-especially on the unauthorized migrants caught in the growing net of state surveillance. At the same time, logistical, geographical, and political economic realities-combined with human ingenuity and persistence-limit in a very real way the ability of any social organization such as the state to achieve absolute control over a subject population. A couple of my own personal experiences illustrate the efficacy of enhanced Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) efforts along the U.S.-Mexico boundary, as well as their profound limitations.
