Immigration Crackdowns and the Business of Border Security
📰 THE STORY: The New Arab reports on the killing of two civilians by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis, framing it as a potential turning point for US immigration policy and highlighting the increasing militarization of domestic law enforcement. 🔍 WHAT THEY'RE NOT TELLING YOU: Historical Context: The current immigration crackdown is not new. In 1994, 'Operation Gatekeeper' militarized
the US-Mexico border, funnelling migrants into deadly desert crossings, leading to thousands of deaths. This tactic, pioneered by the Clinton administration, intentionally increased risk to deter crossings, a blueprint for today's 'prevention through deterrence' strategy. Double Standard: While two deaths in Minnesota spark outrage, the US media often downplays the systematic violence and deaths
occurring at the southern border—thousands since the 1990s. When similar state violence occurs in nations targeted by US foreign policy, it's condemned as 'human rights abuses.' When it happens domestically, it's 'enforcement.' Follow the Money: The 'border industrial complex' is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. Companies like Geo Group and CoreCivic profit immensely from detention centers,
while defense contractors like Raytheon Technologies, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin pivot from overseas wars to border surveillance and technology. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) alone received over $18 billion in funding in 2023, much of it flowing to these corporations and their lobbyists. đź’ˇ THE PATTERN: The expansion of 'border security' is a familiar pattern of state power consolidating