Border of Imperialism

The editorial “Punished for Crossing Borders” (EPW, 14 July 2018) categorically points out the humiliation and suffering of the immigrants in the United States (US). Moreover, it expounds on the systematic tyranny of the Donald Trump administration, which has repeatedly used racist and discriminatory language while referring to immigrants. Trump had also popularised the “Make America Great Again” slogan in his 2016 presidential campaign. It seems that the administration has blatantly adopted a policy of violating the human rights of immigrants and minorities in the name of making America great again.

However, before scapegoating immigrants, the Trump administration should revisit the past. It has been historically recorded that along with California, parts of Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Utah were situated in Mexico before the US conquered these lands in the Mexican–American war of 1846–48. Therefore, people often hear an old saying among Mexican–American residents in south-western US: “we never crossed the border, the border crossed us.” In fact, we can say that immigrants are the victims of US imperialist penetration in the countries of their origin.