In border tales, real and imagined, any man willing to confront a perceived threat is imbued with virtue, his flaws easily overlooked for the sake of our collective safety. By casting himself as the hero on the border, Trump has largely escaped political backlash from Republicans. After all, his violent messaging is safely wrapped in terms like “legal” and “foreign,” which stoke racist undertones while skirting the nation’s black/white racial paradigm.