The Mexican border must be guarded not just from those coming south of the border, but from those coming from around the word. We have a stereotype of Indians coming into this country mostly through H1-B visas. However, the situation is changing. An open border even attracts those from across the seas.
A record number of Indian migrants have been trying to make their way into the US illegally from the nearly 2,000-mile long land border the country shares with Mexico. More than 16,290 people were taken into custody by the CBP between October 2021 and August this year. The previous high recorded in 2018 was a far lower 9,000.
[An unprecedented number of Indians are trying to enter the US via Mexico, by Ananya Bhattacharya, GQ, October 10, 2022]
One of the reasons why caught my attention.
As an openly gay man living in a deeply conservative part of India’s Punjab, life had long been hard for Jashan Preet Singh.
Over the years, Mr Singh, 24, had grown accustomed to daily discrimination in his hometown of Jalandhar—harassment and beatings doled out by his neighbours, and a family that had largely turned its back on him...
Mr Singh’s escape set him on a journey that took him through Turkey and France. Eventually, it led him to the US-Mexico border, nearly 8,000 miles (12,800km) away, where he crossed into California to begin a new life in the US.
While some migrants are coming to the US for economic reasons, many are fleeing persecution back home, said Deepak Ahluwalia, an immigration lawyer who has represented Indian nationals in Texas and California.
The latter group range from Muslims, Christians and ”low-caste” Hindus to members of India’s LGBT community who fear violence at the hands of extreme Hindu nationalists, or supporters of secessionist movements and farmers from the Punjab region, which has been shaken by protests since 2020.
Conditions for many of these groups have deteriorated in recent years, international observers say.
[US immigration: Why Indians are fleeing halfway around the world, by Bernd Debusmann Jr., BBC, October 10, 2022]
I don’t mean to dismiss the obstacles faced by people in India. Everyone deserves compassion and safety. I wish those involved in this story well.
However, they are breaking our laws and invading our country. That must not be allowed. They should be sent back.
One can’t help but notice the way immigration degrades the recipient nation at the most basic level. Nationalists in power, by pursuing their goals effectively, are actually forcing their political opponents to leave. These opponents then go to a different country where they don’t have any identification with the existing people or culture. They are simply there because it is safer and because they can make more money.
More importantly, their identity is defined by victimhood. If we look at it from the zero-sum worldview of international relations, it actually forms the basis of a successful imperialist policy. If you are right-wing at home, leftists will leave. Leftists will then go to countries that they don’t really identify with, vote for and pursue leftist policies, and weaken the other country from within. There’s no reason not to push your political enemies to flee, as they become obstacles for your geopolitical opponents. And because they still identify with your country, if not your regime, they may advocate for more aid.
Immigration is not entirely a right/left policy. If we define the left as ”egalitarianism” and the right as ”hierarchy/greatness,” we can see reasons for immigration restriction on both levels. A tight labor market helps workers, which is why progressives traditionally used to support immigration restriction. The right is concerned with protecting existing cultures and institutions, another reason to restrict immigration.
Unfortunately, America is currently defined by a victim mindset. ”Assimilation” to American cultural norms, at least at the elite level, means coming up with new arguments about why you are oppressed and why society is opposed to you. And we are now admitting people who have left their country entirely because they feel oppressed. It won’t take much to get many migrants speaking the lingo about ”white privilege” and demanding handouts.
Naïve Americans often think that foreigners fleeing desperate situations will feel gratitude towards America. This doesn’t seem to be the case. Ilhan Omar doesn’t seem grateful. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is the daughter of immigrants, but seems to have a major chip on her shoulder against the community that elected her. Malala Yousafzai was an Afghan girl who was shot in the head by the Taliban. Americans called her a hero and let her into the country. She supports Black Lives Matter [Malala Yousafzai Speaks out in Support of Black Lives Matter, by Danielle Pitter, Glitter magazine, June 4, 2020]. She also wants other countries to open their borders to Afghanis [Malala Yousafza calls on countries to open their borders to Afghan refugees, by Kierra Frazier, Axios, August 16, 2021].
It’s a variation on Punishment Migration [Punishment Migration, by James Kirkpatrick, The Social Contract, Fall 2018]. A failed country can actually build its power by sending its unskilled masses across the border to other nations. Though these people left their home countries, many will campaign for more aid and assistance for the places they fled and more admission of their co-ethnics. Furthermore, regardless of what accolades America provides them, they have every interest in claiming discrimination and oppression. If anything, those claiming asylum because of human rights violations are the least desirable migrants, because they are the most likely to turn their resentment against the country that let them in.
Naïve Americans should stop expecting to get gratitude from asylum seekers. In many cases, we will get resentment at best and hate at worst. It ultimately comes down to a simple choice—close the border and get called racist once or open the border and get called racist forever.
