The city of Nogales straddles the border between Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona. On the Mexican side, a group of marginalized youth calling themselves Barrio Libre (Free 'Hood) employs violence, theft, and bribery to survive, often preying on undocumented migrants using the city's sewer system to cross the border. In this book, Gilberto Rosas draws on his in-depth ethnographic research among the Barrio Libre to understand how the gang operates, why its members have embraced criminality, and the role that neoliberalism and security policies on both sides of the border have played in the youth's...

The city of Nogales straddles the border between Sonora, Mexico, and Arizona. On the Mexican side, a group of marginalized youth calling themselves Barrio Libre (Free 'Hood) employs violence, theft, and bribery to survive, often preying on undocumented migrants using the city's sewer system to cross the border. In this book, Gilberto Rosas draws on his in-depth ethnographic research among the Barrio Libre to understand how the gang operates, why its members have embraced criminality, and the role that neoliberalism and security policies on both sides of the border have played in the youth's...