Since September of 2023, about 42,000 asylum seeker have been dropped off in San Diego County (1). This has lead the city of San Diego to call what is happening a humanitarian crises and is requesting support from the federal government (2). To give a larger perspective on the issue, Border Patrol has had over 3 million encounters with people trying to cross the border illegally in fiscal year 2023 alone (3). The situation seems like it is only getting worse as time goes on for San Diego County, given that this situation is only the continuation of a long history of abuse and neglect at the US-Mexican border. I think a few good questions that should be asked in regard to this situation are; Why are there so many asylum seekers and refugees coming through the US-Mexican Border and what are things we can do as San Diegans to help mitigate the crises? In order to know answer these questions, a look at the history of immigration and border policy in the US is a necessity to situate our understanding of the present.
Some History For the past 4 decades, the change in immigration policy has continually made the situation for those who wished to enter the US harder and harder. The laws made immigrating to the US more difficult started in the 1980’s with the Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA), which, although gave amnesty to many undocumented people, set the ground stage for more harsh enforcement of the border (4) In the 1990’s the Jordan Commission was created that also help create the ground work for the kind of carceral treatment that many immigrants face when coming to the US. One specific law that is important during this time was the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA), which increased the number of border patrol agents and other kinds of agents used at the border (5). It also added consequences for entering the US illegally, created plans to erect a border fence in San Diego, and empowered local police to enforce immigration law (6).
With these immigration laws in place, heading into the 2000’s, the US experienced the 9/11 terrors attacks that shook the perception of Immigrants in the US and lead to the stalling of discussions in Washington about updating it’s immigration law. The terrorist attacks caused an explosion in funding towards immigration enforcement, which coupled with the laws passed in the 1990’s helped to balloon the use of detention (7). Post 9/11, we also saw the increase in the building of barriers on the border to keep stop people from move across the border more easily. From here, we can see the militarization of the border, the increase in funding towards enforcing immigration policy that has lead to the increase in resources for agencies like ICE, and the greater use of detention facilities for undocumented immigrants. Much of this can be attributed to the obsession over national security by the US government.
In the 2010’s again, there was stalemates in providing new legislation to provide amnesty for undocumented peoples, all throughout the Obama regime. Once Donald trump got elected, his regime went about fulfilling the promises of his campaign. These promises were directly connected to immigration, such as “build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it, deport all illegal aliens, defund sanctuary cities, ban Muslims from entering the United States, limit legal immigration, and triple the number of ICE agents” (8) The Trump regime in 2019, then implemented the Migration Protection Protocols (MPP) which was an attempt to curve the increase in immigration by asylum seekers from Latin America (9) With the policy goals of the Trump regime, coupled with his incredibly inflammatory language around undocumented peoples, only worked to further stigmatize undocumented, immigrant, refugee, and asylum seeker communities to the wider public. Once COVID-19 occurred, all immigration was halted by the use of Title 42 and has only recently been ended by the Biden regime.
Asylum Seekers and Refugees on the US-Mexican Border?
This history is incredibly important in order to understand the present situation we are in. Due to Title 42 being repealed, all the immigrant peoples who have been waiting to enter the US legally have now been given permission to do so, which is why there is a huge influx of immigrants coming through San Diego (10). We can now ask, why are there so many people coming to the US from the US-Mexican border. The people attempting to come to the US are largely from countries who have seen US meddling historically in their countries affairs. An example can be seen in the influx of Venezuelans asylum seekers. The US has committed to trying to suffocate Venezuela through several sanctions on the country, that is worsening an economic crises there (11). Another country that many refugees coming through the US-Mexican border is Haiti, which also has a long history of US foreign intervention and neo-colonial control (12) There are also large numbers of Mexican immigrants attempting to cross the border for a better life in the United States. This is also directly tied to the US lead Neoliberal world order that has imposed economic deregulation and free market friendly policies that hurt the Mexican working class (13). Another country that is seeing immigration to the US is Nicaragua (14). Nicaragua has had, much like Haiti, a long history of US foreign intervention, with very recent instances happening in the 2021 election (15). Much of the issues we are seeing at the border, are a product of foreign policy decisions by the US in order to maintain its hegemonic status at the sole superpower in the world, and by the internal immigration policies the US maintains. An end to US adventurism and foreign meddling in Latin America would go a long way to fixing the issues that lead to so many people leaving their home country.
How Can People From San Diego Help the Situation?
Once you’ve learned about the immigration policy of the US and the reasons why there are so many asylum seekers and immigrants coming to the US. It is reasonable to ask, how can I help the situation? There are many ways someone can help with improving the situation at the border and supporting people seeking asylum.
There are no shortage of organizations who work to support recent immigrants and asylum seekers when they come to the US. One such organization is called Border Angels that does a variety of services and community work to help undocumented people coming to the US (16). Some of the work they do are water drops for people who are crossing the border and are going through the desert. Many undocumented people perish while making the journey and the Border Angels try to help by leaving supplies for them on common used routes. Another group that is worth highlighting with their work in fighting the carceral system that is Otay Mesa Detention Resistance. Otay Mesa Detention Resistance is an abolitionist collective that aims to abolish all forms of the carceral system, and who’s work is primarily geared around the Otay Mesa Detention Center (17).
Some Final Remarks
We have talked about a variety of topics such as the history of immigration law, the reasons for why there is a border crisis to begin with, and finally ways we can combat those injustices on a practical level. There is so much organizing and activism that can be done to resist the capitalist carceral system, however, simply resisting will not solve the immigration crises. We can do charity and activism all we want but fundamentally we need to have a larger goal in mind. We need a fundamental change in society, there is no reforming the US as it stands. The immigration and foreign policies of intervention and meddling in other countries affairs are inherent aspects of the US state and not something that can be changed in any meaningful way. We need to move to completely change our society from the ground up and begin creating a new system that can finally rectify the damage of the old world. One day we will create that world, I know it.
References
Justo Robles, Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Wendy Fry, “Border Patrol dropped 42,000 migrants on San Diego streets. Now county, groups are seeking help” Cal Matters, December 4th, 2023, https://calmatters.org/california- divide/2023/12/immigration-california-street-releases/
City News Service, “San Diego County Supervisors declared a humanitarian crisis at the border. Here's what that means”, NBC San Diego 7 News, September 26th, 2023, https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego- county-supervisors-declared-a-humanitarian-crisis-at-the-border-heres-what-that-means/3314649/
“CBP Enforcement Statistics,” Stats and Summaries, US Customs and Border Protection, Last Modified: Nov 14, 2023, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/cbp-enforcement-statistics
Center for immigration Studies, “Historical Overview of Immigration Policy,” accessed Dec.12, 2023, https:// cis.org/Historical-Overview-Immigration-Policy
Immigration Studies, “Historical Overview.”
Immigration Studies, “Historical Overview.”
Muzaffar Chichi and Jessica Bolter, “Two Decades after 9/11, National Security Focus Still Dominates U.S. Immigration System”, Migration Policy Institute, September 22, 2021, https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/two- decades-after-sept-11-immigration-national-security#:~:text=Immediately after 9/11,U.S.,as -potential-national- security-threats
Immigration Studies, “Historical Overview.”
Alexandria Doty, "The Migrant Protection Protocols: Two Administrations, One Outcome," Immigration and Human Rights Law Review: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 2. (2022)
John Gramlich, “Key facts about Title 42, the pandemic policy that has reshaped immigration enforcement at U.S.-Mexico border”, Pew Research Center, April 27, 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/04/27/ key-facts-about-title-42-the-pandemic-policy-that-has-reshaped-immigration-enforcement-at-u-s-mexico-border/
11 Nicolas Maduro, “Nicolás Maduro’s speech on Venezuela’s new anti-blockade law to resist U.S. imperialism”, Liberation School, December 16, 2020, https://www.liberationschool.org/nicolas-maduros-anti-blockade-law- speech/
Liberation Staff, “PSL Editorial — Haitian resistance continues as U.S. plots invasion”, Liberation News, October 18, 2022, https://www.liberationnews.org/psl-editorial-haitian-resistance-continues-as-u-s-plots-invasion/
Asa Cristina Laurell, “Three Decades of Neoliberalism in Mexico: The Destruction of Society.” International Journal of Health Services 45, no. 2 (2015): 246–64. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45140494.
Terry Collins, “'New normal': High number of migrants crossing border not likely to slow”, USA Today, September 30th, 2023, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/09/30/how-many-migrants-crossed-the- border-2023-mexico-venezuela-2022/70979085007/
Nicholas Stender, “Nicaraguans send message of defiance to U.S. Empire with Sandinista election win”, Liberation News, November 10, 2021, https://www.liberationnews.org/nicaraguans-send-message-of-defiance-to-u- s-empire-with-sandinista-election-win/
“About Us,” Border Angels Website, Accessed December 13, 2023, https://www.borderangels.org/about-us.html
"About,” Our Vision, Otay Mesa Detention Resistance Website, Accessed December 13, 2023, https:// www.detentionresistance.org/about
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