Theorizing Border Inspections

The purpose of this article is to reconsider the ‘border crossings’ theoretical concept through an analysis of two seemingly unrelated social domains in the El Paso-Ju·rez region: skin-color preference and crossings at the local US inspection station. Ultimately, the article attempts to show that ‘border inspections’ are all-pervasive and, therefore, more common than border crossings in the lives of working class people.