Joseph Nevins, professor of geography at Vassar College. As a scholar, he has focused on territorial borders as well as the social constructs that arise from them, with an emphasis on the border between Mexico and the United States. His book, Operation Gatekeeper and Beyond: The War on "Illegals" and the Remaking of the US-Mexico Boundary, clearly describes the complex social structure surrounding the border and how this social structure is affected by a number of other variables such as politics, economics. , and crime to name a few. He offers a unique perspective on a topic typically reserved for political scientists or historians, which allows his argument to be refreshing and insightful. David Gutierrez is a professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. At UCSD, Professor Gutierrez specializes in Chicano and immigration history as well as politics in the United States during the 20th century. His book, Walls and Mirrors: Mexican Americans, Mexican Immigrants, and the Politics of ethnicity is similar to the book in that it is certainly refreshing, but it is written from the perspective of a historian, so it provides more context history of the border. with less emphasis on social constructs and more on the history of boundary changes that have occurred over time through the lens of social and political events. Each novel covers virtually the same subject but with different points of view in the same way that two people may witness a car accident from different points of view, but ultimately end up with the same breakdown of events that led to to the accident. Comparing the two books can offer a deeper understanding of the frontier as a whole and certainly a more complete view...... middle of paper...... notably. (Nevins 202) He states earlier that border construction and immigration are simply trends that occur from the local to the state and national levels and that "illegalization" of the immigration process is simply a means by which the United States government can portray people with good intentions as outlaws. (Nevins 193) Thus bringing back an important concept from The Third Boarder: negative images of the border between the United States and Mexico are transmitted from the first to the second, then to the third border. Nevins then argues that the reason this tactic works is that American society has a history of "race-based anti-immigration sentiment." (Nevins 194). It is not difficult to conclude that his position on the term illegal alien would be remarkably similar. to that of Gutierrez, even if they witness this event from two different angles.