Immigrants seeking a better life flatten fences all over the world

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EL PASO — Americans have become accustomed to the startling images of desperate people climbing their way over chain link fences into the United States, a country they cannot access legally.

But that same image of the plight of undocumented immigrants in a constant struggle to improve their lives also can be seen in other countries all over the world.

Dr. Said Saddiki, an associate professor from the University of Fes Morocco and a Fulbright Program scholar at UTEP, is studying the flow of undocumented immigrants from Morocco to Spain.

Dr. Said Saddiki, an associate professor from the University of Fes Morocco, at a recent presentation at UTEP. (Salvador Guerrero/Borderzine.com)

Dr. Said Saddiki, an associate professor from the University of Fes Morocco, at a recent presentation at UTEP. (Salvador Guerrero/Borderzine.com)

“Most people, and the mass media, use the term illegal immigrations,” said Saddiki. “The Border International official document, the official framework of the United Nations, avoids the term illegal immigrations because of its negative connotation. That is why the UN, since 1957, advises nations to use the term undocumented or irregular immigrants.”

Saddiki is concluding a study at UTEP entitled Irregular Migration and Border Fences: A Comparative Study of U.S.-Mexico and Morocco-Spain Borders.

According to Saddiki, borders were once a critical part of the defense of a nation and the military doctrine of civilizations’ hundreds of years ago. He used an example of The Great Wall of China and how it stood as military rampart — not a fence to keep people out but one used to defend against conquering countries.

“Between the end of the Second World War and the end of the Cold War, 21 walls were constructed between nations,” said Saddiki. “9/11 was a turning point in modern history. At that time it was the cold war of globalization, it was the end of a world without borders.”

Saddiki said that in the post 9/11 world there have been more walls and borders constructed than any other time. According to him, there are approximately 26,000 kilometers of fences around the world, which would be a longer than a round trip from El Paso to Australia.

“Morocco and Mexico have a long history of migration,” said Saddiki. “Now more than three million Moroccans are living somewhere other than their country and there are approximately 40 million in morocco.”

Like the undocumented immigrants crossing the Mexico-U.S. fences, many Moroccan immigrants have chosen to live a life in Europe because of greater financial opportunity.

According to Saddiki the withdrawal of European colonial powers from Africa had a negative economic effect in the continent, which resulted in an increase in the flight to Spain of undocumented immigrants seeking EU citizenship. From there, the immigrants make their way throughout Europe. He said this flight from poor countries is comparable to the flight of immigrants from Mexico and South America to the U.S.

“Both fences are equipped with barbed fences, infrared cameras and border agents,” said Saddiki. “Even with these difficulties these people did not cease to cross.” These long migrations, however, have resulted in tragic deaths for thousands of “irregulars.”

According to Saddiki, the ironic part about the fences dividing Morocco and Spain is that Moroccans are among the majority of workers who build the fences. The U.S. has seen the same instance since the majority of workers building the fence dividing Mexico and the U.S. are Hispanic.

5 thoughts on “Immigrants seeking a better life flatten fences all over the world

  1. Fine piece, Salvador. Thank you.

    As for “illegal” or the denigrating and dehumanizing “illegals,” this gem from “The Three Sonorans” blog at Tucsoncitizen.com says it all:

    “Narrow-minded.
    Simple-minded.
    Stuck on one mantra that is repeated over and over.
    Illegal is illegal, repeat.
    Keep doing this so that you do not realize that an attack on human beings is anti-humanitarian, anti-Christian love, and anti-family.
    Plug your ears and repeat. Illegal is illegal.
    Don’t let humanity and love inside. Keep only the hate inside.
    Hate of human beings.
    Do not recognize their humanity.
    Dehumanize them.
    They are illegals. Not humans. Not temples of the Holy Spirit. Not Children of God. Not people that Jesus died for.
    They are illegals and nothing else.”

  2. If people are looking for a better life why are they NOT in their own countries DEMANDING a better life for their own citizens. Do you see constant protests in Mexico demanding their government to take care of them? Why don’t these DREAMERS take their American paid educations back home and make their countries better? Stop being the frikken victims and take control of their own futures, It is not up to the American people to take care of their large families cradle to grave Use the dang education that we PROVIDE and use it to turn things around in your own homes. The generosity of the American people is growing thin in hard times. We can not take care of those that choose not to take care of themselves,

  3. Dora D: Allow me, please, to offer you an all-expense-paid auto trip to the foothills outside Oaxaca City.

    Where we’ll be welcomed, with the traditional, warm Mexican hospitality, into villages where you will soon discover, there are virtually no males between the ages of 16 to 60.

    Hopefully, you’ll be, as I was, saddened by the poverty we’ll see.

    After you finish a humble, but very tasty meal you’ll be so graciously offered, you may wonder about what’s caused this terrible, gut-wrenching poverty.

    You may even ask, “Where are the men?”

    The answer is, Dora D. is that the men have left these rustic and tranquil villages in the foothills above Oaxaca City, to seek work elsewhere.

    They left, because they could no longer support their extended families as they once did.

    Not so long ago, Dora D., those hard-working men supported an extended family of 14 or so, by cultivating 3 or 4 acres of corn and other grains.

    But back in 1996, the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) was signed into law by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

    And since NAFTA, more than 2,000,000 Mexican farmers have lost their livelihoods as far cheaper US and Canadian grains flooded into Mexico – and continue to do so.

    You mentioned that “the generosity of the American people is growing thin…”

    But actually, Dora D., the generosity of the American people has been directed far more at Archer Daniel Midland and Cargill.

    Those are just two of the huge US corporations that your US tax dollars have,ironically, subsidized.

    But given the somewhat hysterical, and definitely bigoted tone of your post, I suspect that these facts will fly right over your head.

    Meanwhile, my offer for you to join me on an all-expense-paid auto trip up to those welcoming Oaxacaño mountain villages still stands…

  4. I’m re-posting my last post.

    When I read my copy, it had no separation between paragraphs.

    Jack says:
    January 8, 2011 at 10:15 am

    Dora D: Allow me, please, to offer you an all-expense-paid auto trip to the foothills outside Oaxaca City.

    Where we’ll be welcomed, with the traditional, warm Mexican hospitality, into villages where you will soon discover, there are virtually no males between the ages of 16 to 60.

    Hopefully, you’ll be, as I was, saddened by the poverty we’ll see.

    After you finish a humble, but very tasty meal you’ll be so graciously offered, you may wonder about what’s caused this terrible, gut-wrenching poverty.

    You may even ask, “Where are the men?”

    The answer is, Dora D. is that the men have left these rustic and tranquil villages in the foothills above Oaxaca City, to seek work elsewhere.

    They left, because they could no longer support their extended families as they once did.

    Not so long ago, Dora D., those hard-working men supported an extended family of 14 or so, by cultivating 3 or 4 acres of corn and other grains.

    But back in 1996, the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) was signed into law by the US, Canada, and Mexico.

    And since NAFTA, more than 2,000,000 Mexican farmers have lost their livelihoods as far cheaper US and Canadian grains flooded into Mexico – and continue to do so.

    You mentioned that “the generosity of the American people is growing thin…”

    But actually, Dora D., the generosity of the American people has been directed far more at Archer Daniel Midland and Cargill.

    Those are just two of the huge US corporations that your US tax dollars have,ironically, subsidized.

    But given the somewhat hysterical, and definitely bigoted tone of your post, I suspect that these facts will fly right over your head.

    Meanwhile, my offer for you to join me on an all-expense-paid auto trip up to those welcoming Oaxacaño mountain villages still stands…

  5. I spend a great amount of time in Mexico, and have business ventures with two companies there. I love the people of Mexico, and have family and friends there–including my in-laws. I have rich friends and poor friends, and I cherish my relationships with them all.

    I also know first-hand the ordeals and hardships Mexican immigrants go through to come and work in the United States, and believe that for the most part those who enter illegally come with the fundamental desire and need to support their families. I deplore the abuses they endure and the racism that exists among so many Americans.

    Jack, there are two major issues I have with your position:

    1. A nation governed by the rule of law cannot selectively enforce them and maintain a democracy. We need immigration reform that addresses the need to provide work permits in greater numbers to those seeking employment from other countries. It is far too difficult to come to the U.S. from Mexico unless you are well-to-do or well connected.

    2. The Mexican government supports the rights of it’s citizens to enter the U.S. to work by any means of entry. It is a tremendous source of currency flow into Mexico. However, it is duplicitous to deny entry to those Central American immigrants seeking to cross into Mexico’s southern border. Those poor immigrants are treated far worse than Mexican immigrants in the U.S. Mexico must take responsibility to improve the standards of living of it’s citizens through strengthening it’s economy, ending corruption in government and law enforcement, and putting the drug cartels out of business.

    As to the “illegal is illegal” comment–well, truth is truth, too. No amount of compassion you and I may have for the individual can change this fact. If I choose to drink over the legal limit and get behind the wheel to drive, am I in violation of the law? Or only if I get caught?
    Remember, the poor we have with us always–even among the citizens of our own United States of America.

    Dora D., there is more protest and activism now than ever in Mexico demanding change and help from the government. The political system is finally open for multi-party rule, and things are gradually improving. Were it not for American’s insatiable demand for illicit drugs, things would be much better much sooner. Immigration enforcement laws and “repatriation” efforts ramped up signifcantly before and during the great depresssion of the last century. When economic times are tough, the immigration question receives more focus. Just keep in mind your neighbors likely have no problem paying that “illegal” immigrant to mow the lawn while they sip their iced tea in their air conditioned living room…

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