ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to contribute to a broader spectrum of border thinking, and rethinking borders by examining key theoretical studies, cultural artifacts, and discourses, state-enforced acts of violence, femicide, and drug violence as well as personal stories and prejudices. On 16 June 2015, during his presidential announcement address, Donald Trump declared: When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. President Trump's remarks also reiterate the state of violence our ancestors endured during and after the US settlement and conquest of the West, the underlying and/or open violence we experience on a daily basis whether we live on one side or the other of the geo-political border. As a consequence, Mexican and US respective national discourses of identity have affected attitudes among Mexicans from both sides of the border and exacerbated tensions between diverse groups. Research on cultural studies on the Mexican northern border focus on the discourses regarding the border and its dwellers.
