Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Post-September 11
Since September 11, 2001, government immigration
policies have incorporated security concerns. Prior to that
date, the U.S. border patrol was concerned primarily with
drug traffi cking and human smuggling. The new govern-
ment policies affect asylum-seekers, illegal immigrants,
and legal immigrants.
After September 11, the George W. Bush admin-
istration cracked down on asylum-seekers (a refugee
requests entry into the U.S. from his or her home country,
and an asylum seeker requests protection from a port of
entry in the U.S.). In the aftermath of 9/11, on March 15,
2003,the U.S. government marked 33 countries as coun-
tries where al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups operate,
and the government automatically detained anyone from
one of these 33 countries who entered the United States
looking for asylum under a policy called “Operation
Liberty Shield.” On March 25, Human Rights Watch
argued against the policy, stating that it created “a blan-
ket suspicion of links to terrorism based on nationality
alone.” On April 17, 2003, the Department of Homeland
Security quietly terminated “Operation Liberty Shield.”
Post-September 11 government security poli-
cies have also affected illegal immigrants. The Justice
Department currently has a policy that allows it to detain
any illegal immigrant, even if the person has no known
ties to terrorist organizations. This policy stems from the
department's concern that terrorists may use Haiti as a
“staging point.” The idea behind this law is that terror-
ists could travel to Haiti temporarily and then illegally
migrate from Haiti to the United States to commit ter-
rorist attacks. Similarly, the government fence-building
along the United States-Mexican border (discussed at the
beginning of this chapter) is a response in part to the con-
cern that terrorists will use Mexico as a staging ground to
immigrate illegally and commit terrorist attacks.
In addition to focusing on asylum-seekers and illegal
immigration, the post-September 11 world is concerned
with legal immigration. The 9/11 Commission Report,
released in 2004, discusses the issue of terrorists using fab-
ricated or altered papers to migrate to the United States.
The 9/11 terrorists entered the United States using visas.
The Commission reported that the Federal Aviation
Administration fl agged more than half of the 9/11 hijackers
with the profi ling system they had in place. However, the
policy at the time was to check the bags of those fl agged,
not the people themselves. The Commission explains, “For
terrorists, travel documents are as important as weapons.”
It therefore recommends stepping up inspections and ques-
tioning at travel checkpoints, seeing these checkpoints as
“a chance to establish that people are who they say they are
and are seeking access for their stated purpose, to intercept
identifi able suspects, and to take effective action.”
People and organizations opposed to the post-
September 11 policies counter that raising fences and
detaining people will not combat terrorism; rather, it will
intensify hatred of the U.S. government, thus promoting
terrorism. Organizations such as Human Rights First,
Amnesty International, and the Migration Policy Institute
claim that the new government crackdowns have violated
civil liberties and have done nothing to make Americans
safer. Others opposed to the new border regulations argue
that the crackdown has only slowed traffi c and the fl ow of
business and tourism, and has utterly failed to slow illegal
immigration.
Regardless of which side of this debate you choose,
we can all agree that concern about migration will con-
tinue to shape security policy in the United States,
Europe, and beyond in the decades to come.
One goal of international organizations involved in aiding
refugees is repatriation—return of the refugees to their
home countries once the threat against them has passed.
Take the example of refugees from the Darfur region of
Sudan. Think about how their land and their lives have
changed since they became refugees. You are assigned the
daunting task of repatriating refugees from Darfur to Sudan
once a peace solution is reached. What steps would you
have to take to rediscover a home for these refugees?
Summary
In the last 500 years, humans have traveled the globe, mapped it, connected it through
globalization, and migrated across it. In this chapter, we discussed major global,
regional, and national migration fl ows. Migration can occur as a result of a conscious
decision, resulting in a voluntary migration fl ow, or migration can occur under duress,
resulting in forced migration. Both kinds of migration have left an indelible mark on
