The securitisation of immigration through the Tactical Terrorism Response Team

Bibliographic Data

ID12919050
AuthorsDarializa Avila Chevalier (City University of New York, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume16
Issue3
Pages537-559
Publication date2023-07-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCritical Studies on Terrorism (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-9161 • E-ISSN: 1753-9153
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17539153.2023.2229618
OpenAlexW4382987926
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited35

This article considers a significant stage in the convergence of US counterterrorism policy and immigration enforcement exemplified by the emergence of a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unit known as the Tactical Terrorism Response Team (TTRT). In my analysis I show: (i) that TTRT agents engage in a process I call social homicide which subjects travellers to a condition of bare life; (ii) that the increasing production of border violence highlights that the convergence of securitisation and immigration enforcement is a praxis of anti-Blackness and Islamophobia; (iii) that securitisation and exclusionary immigration policy have made use of invisibility to create and expand a permanent state of exception; and (iv) that border enforcement through securitisation is used as a mechanism for the surveillance and control of social movements inside the United States. Given the limited public information on TTRT’s operations, this study explores the matter through a case study of Abdikadir Mohamed’s 2017 encounter with the unit, his subsequent immigration proceedings, and the FOIA lawsuit filed against CBP for more information on the TTRT

Criminology · Enforcement · Immigration · Invisibility · Law enforcement · National security · Organised crime · Political science · Praxis · Sociology · Terrorism · Global Security and Public Health · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Public Administration

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