Ken Salazar’s connection to the American Southwest is not merely political; it is deeply ancestral, stretching back to a time when his family inhabited the region long before it transitioned from Mexican territory to American soil. It is from this unique, historically grounded perspective that the former Cabinet secretary, Colorado attorney general, and United States Ambassador to Mexico has voiced a sharp, highly personal critique of the Biden administration’s border policy, declaring that Washington “woke up too late” to confront a rapidly deteriorating immigration crisis. In his compelling new book, Borderlands, Salazar argues that American foreign policy has long suffered from a systemic, outdated “east-west paradigm” that reflexively prioritizes geopolitical developments in Europe and Asia while chronically neglecting our immediate neighbors to the south. This historical blind spot, Salazar asserts, heavily infected the Biden White House from its earliest days, leaving it flat-footed and lacking the necessary urgency to address a broken border and unprecedented migration flows. By failing to recognize the strategic importance of Mexico and the wider Western Hemisphere, the administration inadvertently created a massive policy and communications vacuum—one that political opponents, particularly former President Donald Trump, eagerly and effectively filled, turning a complex humanitarian and administrative challenge into one of their most potent electoral weapons.
The depth of Salazar’s frustration during his diplomatic tenure is laid bare in a dramatic episode recounted in Borderlands, which nearly culminated in his resignation. While attending a high-level presidential summit in Mexico City, Salazar discovered that he and former Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd had been excluded from a crucial strategy meeting scheduled at the Palacio Nacional. Determined to make his voice heard, Salazar managed to secure a private, last-minute audience with President Biden, where he delivered an urgent, unvarnished warning: the administration desperately needed a single, dedicated “border and migration czar” with the absolute authority to coordinate interagency operations in Washington and communicate a unified strategy to the public. Drawing a direct parallel to Jeffrey Zients’ highly focused role as the White House COVID-19 response coordinator, Salazar pleaded for a centralized figure to manage the complex dynamics of the Americas, arguing that a lack of leadership was crippling their efforts. Although the administration would eventually implement decisive measures in June 2024 that dramatically curtailed unauthorized border crossings, Salazar laments that the administration’s persistent failure to effectively communicate these successes allowed Trump and his campaign to continuously exploit the issue as “low-hanging fruit” long before Biden ultimately exited the presidential race.
This chronic inability to manage the border is not, in Salazar’s view, a failure unique to the Biden-Harris administration, but rather a century-long pattern of “foreign policy malpractice” shared by both major political parties. He notes that for over twenty years, Republicans have strategically weaponized the border to gain decisive electoral advantages, capitalizing on public anxieties without offering sustainable, comprehensive solutions. Conversely, Salazar argues that Democrats often find themselves trapped in a reactive posture, viewing immigration strictly through a domestic lens of administrative reform and localized border management. This narrow focus completely misses the broader regional reality, failing to engage constructively with Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala or to build the necessary diplomatic architecture across Central and South America. By ignoring the interconnectedness of the Western Hemisphere, successive administrations have allowed the border to remain a chaotic flashpoint, treating a complex, transnational migration network as a localized law enforcement problem rather than a systemic regional challenge requiring deep, collaborative, and long-term foreign policy engagement.
To break this cycle of political posturing and administrative paralysis, Salazar proposes a bold, forward-looking blueprint he calls the “Borderlands Platform.” Grounded in the reality that economic prosperity and national security are inextricably linked for Canada, the United States, and Mexico, his platform advocates for a “New American Alliance” that transcends the divisive rhetoric of walls and deportations. Rather than treating migrants as political pawns or looking at immigration solely as a humanitarian crisis, Salazar argues it must be reframed as a vital economic engine and national security asset. This vision calls for significantly expanded legal labor mobility, deeper intelligence and security cooperation, and robust, renewed investments in regional trade corridors. Showing a pragmatic willingness to cross partisan lines, Salazar writes supportively of preserving and strengthening the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)—the trade deal negotiated under the Trump administration to replace NAFTA—as a foundational tool to foster continental economic integration and guarantee long-term stability for North American industries.
While Salazar concedes that Donald Trump is correct in diagnosing the southern border as fundamentally “broken,” he fiercely rejects the former president’s polarizing and highly militarized approach to the crisis. Drawing on his own extensive background in law enforcement, including his years leading thousands of officers as Colorado’s attorney general, Salazar stresses that true security is not achieved through divisive rhetoric, civil rights violations, or controversial operations involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). He argues that the sensationalized and punitive tactics favored by hardliners run contrary to core American values, which must balance the enforcement of laws with a fundamental respect for human dignity and constitutional rights. For Salazar, the current focus on political theater neglects the vital necessity of building durable legal frameworks that can secure our borders, support law enforcement, and establish an orderly, functional immigration system. He warns that failing to construct these sustainable legal pathways will only perpetuate the security vulnerabilities that both political parties claim they want to resolve.
Looking ahead to the future of American politics, Salazar is actively working to ensure his “Borderlands” vision becomes a central pillar of the national discourse, revealing that he has already met with several prominent Democrats widely considered to be top presidential contenders for 2028. Among them is Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, who has endorsed Salazar’s book and shares his belief that Democrats must aggressively claim ownership of the border issue rather than ceding it to their opponents. Salazar’s pragmatism also extends across the aisle; he expresses a genuine willingness to meet with Donald Trump to offer his counsel, provided he does not become “political fodder” for partisan campaigns. Drawing on his personal experiences working on his family’s ranch, Salazar highlights the immediate, tangible pain felt across rural America, where fluctuating trade policies, tariffs, and diplomatic uncertainty with Mexico directly impact the cost of fuel, diesel, and everyday agricultural goods like avocados and berries. Ultimately, Salazar warns that without a shift toward a collaborative continental partnership, the American agricultural sector is headed for a remarkably difficult future, making the adoption of a unified, three-nation strategy not just a humanitarian necessity, but an economic survival imperative for the entire continent.
