ABSTRACT
The chapter introduces the US–Mexico border region. The region is a microcosm for processes of uneven development worldwide but they are brought into stark relief, where the externalization of environmental risks from a core to a semiperipheral state is easily visible. It summarizes the environmental injustices occurring in the region at two scales: between the US and Mexico and then within border communities on each side. It offers a series of hypotheses, informed by the US–Mexico border case, for how distributional environmental injustices might be expected to play out in core, semiperiphery and periphery states worldwide before concluding with a discussion of normative concerns. The growth in industrial employment opportunities on the Mexican side has drawn increasing numbers of migrants to the border, where the lack of affordable high-quality housing for them is a serious issue.
