<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/01/immigration-nigel-farage-donald-trump>
"A few weeks after the Brexit referendum, a leave-voting friend of mine told me
what the biggest benefit would be. “We will never hear about immigration
again,” he said. If you give the people the control over the border they want,
the logic went, then Brexit will finally dissolve immigration as an issue that
politicians can exploit, and the country can crack on with all the other
important stuff that needs doing. And, well, let’s just say that this
prediction did not pan out on such a colossal level that no follow-up
conversation has been necessary.
Because that’s just not how the whole immigration thing works. The goalposts
always move. Nothing clarifies that more than Nigel Farage getting everything
he has said he ever wanted, the country heaving itself out of the EU and ending
free movement, only for another boil to fester around the issue of immigration
– and guess what, only Reform UK can lance it! Nothing is ever enough. One only
needs to look at the escalating crackdowns in the US to see how the net keeps
getting wider and wider. In a matter of months, immigration crackdown has
expanded so rapidly that immigrants, both documented and undocumented, are
afraid to leave their houses to buy groceries or go to work, as the national
guard patrols the streets.
It starts with the border, a boundary so porous that it must be policed with
military levels of force and those crossing it treated with maximum levels of
punishment. People crossing the border are portrayed as “invaders” intent on
carrying out some criminal or exploitative act. Rightwing politicians in the UK
have been speaking of “invasion” for years. After Donald Trump came to office
for the second time, he codified that notion, expanding the constitutional
protection of states from invasion to include immigrants.
The US’s southern border is now so militarised that armoured vehicles
previously stationed in Iraq are positioned there. Border crossings have been
falling since before Trump became president, but that decline has accelerated
since he took office. In April this year, they were down 94% on the previous
year. Is that enough? No. Because really, the numbers are irrelevant: the point
is to maintain the flamboyant show of force. “Containment is at 95%. But 95% is
not 100%,” said Brigadier General Jeremy Winters in response to the drop.
When the UK media suggests it may be time for “gunboat diplomacy” in response
to small boat arrivals – which in 2024 made up about 4% of total immigration
arrivals to the UK – something similar is playing out. These responses are
about posturing, not results."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
