The article explores the manner in which border status is instrumentalized by the region's inhabitants through claims before the State and the private sector. The analysis is based on theories of territorial systems, human territoriality, and power networks at the margins of the State. The document evaluates case studies of the Southern Cone and concludes that there are four territorial forms of activism in border conditions: 1) strategies aimed at obtaining public services in marginalized borders; 2) instrumentalization of the nationalist imaginary; 3) tactical use of borders, and, finally, 4) citizen management of the nationalist imaginary. Finally, the study questions the criminalization of border status and recognizes the legitimacy of activist networks in border regions.