Border imperialism

Border Imperialism is a concept first introduced by activist and author Harsha Walia and the topic of her book Undoing Border Imperialism. Border imperialism, then, represents the extension and imposition of Western rule, with the current dynamics of global empire maintaining unequal relationships of political, economic, cultural, and social dominance of the West over its colonies," Border imperialism specifically "defies relegating matters of immigration to that of any single state or government," rather it, "links the politics of borders to global systems of power and repression, systems which find their roots in ‘othering,’ colonization, and slavery.”
Characteristics and causes
Edward Said provides a description of imperialism as “the practice, the theory and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory.” Therefore, border imperialism is an extension of Western rule over its colonies by means of political, economic and cultural imbalance and the global maintenance of unequal relationships and the social dominance of the West.
Not only is border imperialism the cause of migrant displacement, borders also perpetuate structures for further precarities. As Dawn Paley states, "far from preventing violence, the border is in fact the reason it occurs.' Border imperialism is largely responsible for situations of displacement and migration and also maintaining them. "e are all, therefore, simultaneously separated by and bound together by the violences of border imperialism."
Harsha Walia breaks border imperialism into four overlapping structures: first, is the relocation of impoverished, colonized communities displaced by unbalanced global power dynamics; second, is the criminalization of the “illegal” and “alien” labeled migrants resulting in the militarization of borders and punishment to displaced people; third, is the “entrenchment of a radicalized hierarchy of citizenship by arbitrating who legitimately constitutes the nation-state”; and fourth, is the exploitation of migrant and waged labor for capitalist interests.
Displacement and relocation
Climate Change
Climate change is directly correlated to capitalism through the carbon and green house gas emissions due to the production of consumer goods.
In 2011 the UN predicted that by 2020 50 million ‘environmental refugees’ will be migrating north because of food shortages due to climate change.
Despite having the biggest impact on the climate change due to carbon dioxide emissions, many western countries are refusing the migrants who are the affected casualties of climate change. As Harsha Walis states in Undoing Border Imperialism, “Border imperialism again denies justice to migrants who are its own casualties."
The Migration Crisis
Marxist philosopher, Etienne Balibar, once said "Borders are vacillating…they are no longer at the border." Balibar is stating that borders are being maintained and controlled well beyond their physical places and this militarized effort is contributing to keeping asylum seekers in movement.
Economic violence, climate change and gendered violence are all causing large numbers of people to become displaced, which has resulted in the migration crisis the world faces today. In particular, the civil war in Syria has created 11.6 million refugees. Additionally, in Asia, Africa, and South and Central America, industrial agriculture has resulted in the loss of land for millions of people. The destruction of subsistence farming is often a result of forced privatization, protected by neoliberal practices.
The U.N. report, “World at War,” states that wars and persecution are the main causes of forced displacements. In the past year, about 14 million out of 59.5 million refugees are newly displaced due to military conflicts. 42,500 refugees are displaced everyday.
Border militarization
Border controls are used by imperial powers to manage and deter those who are forcibly displaced by violence or economies devastated by capitalist interests, who find that migration is the only option.
Frontex, “a European Union regulatory agency tasked with integrated border security and fortification of the external border” was designed to secure the border far outside of its physical boundaries. Using surveillance and military technologies, these tactics are employed to deter migrants from leaving Africa. Border imperialism, therefore, controls migrant movements far beyond actual, physical borders and these militarization policies can be held responsible for the dangers faced by migrating people as they seek out alternative routes and methods.
Another example of border enforcement policies is immigration detention centers. These detainees represent some of the fastest growing prison populations in the Western world.
Mary Pat Brady describes border deaths as "a kind of passive capital punishment," where "immigrants have been effectively blamed for their own deaths.'"
Settler colonialism
Settler colonialism is the act of newcomers/colonizers coming into a place, claiming it as their own and taking great measures to disappear the Indigenous peoples who live their in order to take and exploit the land and resources that yield value. Additionally, settler colonialism is designed to seem inevitable and without origin. Imperialism uses stories and academia to make colonialism seem natural by “ the conditions of its operation,”
Settlers are distinct from migrants as they carry with them a “distinct sovereign capacity.” Settler colonialism is separate from colonialism, even when it operates within colonial forms, in that it attempts to vanish Indigenous people after they make use of their labour. “ven if colonialism and settler colonialism interpenetrate and overlap, they remain separate as they co-define each other.”
Maile Arvin, Angie Morrill, and Eve Tuck describe a nation-state “as a self-declared and independent geopolitical entity that asserts control within boundaries of land and water and is populated by a citizenship.” In the nation-state, the myth of superiority of Western civilization is maintained in order to reinforce borders against radicalized Indigenous bodies.
When land and resources are concerned, “Justice is often put in terms that coincide with the expansion of the settler state.” Legislation is created to coincide with an imperial agenda.
Capitalism
Describing globalization, Liz Fekete of the Institute of Race Relations emphasizes that terms like ‘First World’ ‘Third World’ are misleading. She states, “Globalization isn’t a separate world…there is one world and one economic system. And that economic system is dominated by Europe, the United States and Japan.”
One of border imperialism’s characteristics, as defined by Harsh Walia, is the “entrenchment and reentrenchment of controls against migrants.” Due to systemic social hierarchies and state illegalization, groups who have been displaced by the violence of capitalism and empire, are often forced into precarious labor situations.
Labor
An important part of maintaining capitalist interests is the necessitating of precarious workers by means of waged labor. This is a system that is characterized by “poor wages, insecurity in the continuity of work, and lack of protection by even minimal labor regulations."
Impact of Border Imperialism
A direct impact of border imperialism is the relocation of people from rural peripheral communities into urban centers and across state borders and the forced displacement of communities from impoverished or violent places. These migrant situations are directly and indirectly linked to global capitalism and Western imperial power structures. Additionally, “the West denies culpability and accountability for displaced migrants.” While mainstream discourses “extol Western generosity toward displaced migrants… remain silent about the root causes of migration.” By not addressing these causes, acts of displacement and the relocation of migrants are being perpetuated.

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