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The securitisation of immigration through the Tactical Terrorism Response Team

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.

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