In October 2018, a “migrant caravan” bound for the United States set off on foot from Honduras. The group was made up of asylum seekers of all ages fleeing conditions of violence and poverty – a regional reality shaped by decades of punitive foreign policy tactics by none other than the US itself.
The president there at that time, Donald Trump, has never given up an opportunity to watch the practice of discriminating against immigrants, and went to Twitter to broadcast “National Emergy”. [sic]warning that “criminals and unknown people from the Middle East are mixed” with the caravan. To prepare for a pedestrian attack on the country, Trump ordered 5,200 American soldiers to be sent to the southern border along with helicopters, dozens of razor wire, and other “emergency” equipment.
Apparently, the US lived to tell the story – although the same cannot be said of the thousands of refugees who have died over the years trying to reach perceived safety in the country. Now, as Trump prepares for his second term as the nation’s commander-in-chief, we are in for another round of anti-immigrant “emergency,” and the president-elect has taken the liberty of announcing it prematurely.
After campaigning on the promise of carrying out “the largest deportation operation” in American history, Trump confirmed in November that he is “ready” to declare a national emergency and use the US military to deport millions of undocumented immigrants from the country. The deployment of armed forces to this operation naturally leaves no room for doubt that this is, well, a war — never mind the image Trump is selling as a somewhat anti-war leader.
Not that the US war on asylum seekers is anything new. And of course, it’s not just a war waged by Trumpites and members of the Republican party. Outgoing US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has done a good job on the battlefield, overseeing the deportation of more than 142,000 people in fiscal year 2023 alone. Then there was that decision by the Biden administration to waive all federal laws and regulations to expand Trump’s favored border wall, in violation of Biden’s promises.
Rather than do all this dirty work himself, Biden increasingly sought help from the Mexican government, which is already an established partner in making life hell for the world’s underprivileged in the US. And when the US forced Mexico to refuse immigration, it was more dangerous for the people leaving — and more profitable for Mexican authorities addicted to extortion and organized crime outfits alike.
After all, “border security” is big business on both sides of the border. And on the US side, it’s a completely bipartisan issue that becomes even more obvious if Trump is in power; remember, for example, this man’s 2019 vision of the US-Mexico border that included “a canal full of water, full of snakes or alligators” and a wall “with spikes on top that could pierce human flesh”. And while the alligators aren’t out yet, it seems that dying in a fire in a Mexican immigration detention center or succumbing to dehydration and heat in the desert is horrific enough.
Meanwhile, the Trumpian dream of claiming that Biden has recklessly overseen a liberal open border policy will now provide more fuel for Trump’s renewed war effort on the southern border. Like Trump, Biden imposed his own asylum restrictions that violate US and international law — and, as Trump launches the second installment of his quest to “make America great again”, you can bet the right to asylum will come. under the fire that slowly collapses.
And yet National Emergy 2.0 is not just a war on asylum seekers. Ironically, it is also a war against the US itself, which would not exist in its current form without the help of many undocumented workers – the very people Trump is threatening with the “biggest deportation job” in US history.
According to a report by the US Chamber of Commerce, the United States is facing a labor shortage: “If every unemployed person in the country could find a job, we would still have millions of open jobs.” In May 2024, a CNBC study found that “immigrant workers are helping to grow America’s labor market,” making up a record 18.6 percent of the workforce by 2023.
The analysis continued: “As Americans lose their labor force and birth rates remain low, economists and the Federal Reserve are praising the importance of immigrant workers to future economic growth.”
But why should Trump think about future, um, “emergencies” when he can focus on spreading ridiculous lies like Haitian immigrants in Ohio eating pets?
Of course, there are many things in America that deserve a national emergency, among them the usual school shootings and other deadly gun violence. Institutional racism also comes to mind, as does the homelessness epidemic and the deadly health care industry itself.
But the whole point of the “National Emergy” is to distract from the real problems by making a silly excuse. And as Trump mobilizes troops for an upcoming attack on his beloved war, it stands to reason that, too, it will be dangerous.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
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