Still, most people fail to understand the vital relationship between border communities. Transnational towns have long nurtured symbiotic economic, social, and cultural relationships between countries. Though separated by a national boundary, border cities such as El Paso and Ciudad Juárez develop interdependency through work, trade, consumption of goods and services, and family and social ties.
Since 1953, the United States and Mexico have implemented Border Crossing Cards (BCCs) to permit Mexican nationals to enter the United States under specific provisions. These cards enable Mexican visitors to stay in the United States up to 72 hours for purposes such as tourism, shopping, or personal matters. Other authorized forms of entry also include work permits, which allow Mexican residents to take jobs in the United States.
However, obtaining a BCC is often difficult and time-consuming. It requires Mexican applicants to demonstrate that they have no intention of permanently residing in the United States and that they are financially secure. This process is often inaccessible for those living in the cities. As a result, many people who crossed the border did so without authorization.
Before the implementation of OHL, many people on both sides of the border had relied on one another for several decades. However, the blockade that restricted access to their city altered that relationship.
Operation Hold the Line: The Border Blockade
Operation Hold the Line, and border policy more generally, disregarded the symbiotic relationship between border cities such as El Paso and Juárez.
OHL was the brainchild of Silvestre Reyes, chief of the El Paso Border Patrol Sector. It was a bold experiment aimed at curbing the travel of migrants across the 20-mile stretch of border connecting these two urban hubs. Reyes mobilized a sizable contingent of border patrol agents—400 out of El Paso’s 650—to maintain a continuous presence along the border day and night, seven days a week.
Associating a surge in crime with a rise in immigration, Reyes proposed tightening the border. Certainly, Mexican immigration to the United States had increased in the 1980s and 1990s.
The surge was attributed to a severe financial crisis from low exchange rates, high inflation, political instability, and the economic dislocation brought on by neoliberal economic policies adopted by several Latin American countries. Many have colloquially called the 1980s “la década perdida,” or the lost decade, due to the severe financial instability that plagued many Latin American countries.
However, in his decision to implement the blockade, Reyes overlooked the connections between the two communities. When an El Paso Times journalist questioned his rationale, Reyes stated, “I don't think we need justification for doing our job.” Reports showing reduced crossings and crime rates convinced Reyes that the border experiment was successful.