Immigration: Western Wars and Imperial Exploitation Uproot Millions By James Petras Al-Jazeerah, CCUN, June 29, 2018

Women immigrants from Central America at the US border

 
 

Introduction

“Immigration” has become the dominant issue dividing Europe and the US. Yet,
the most important matter which is driving millions to emigrate is overlooked, which is wars.
In this paper we will discuss the reasons behind the massification of immigration,
focusing on several issues, namely (1) imperial wars (2) multi-national corporate
expansion (3) the decline of the anti-war movements in the US and Western Europe (4)
the weakness of the trade union and solidarity movements.

We will proceed by identifying the major countries affected by US and EU wars
leading to massive immigration, and then turn to the western powers forcing refugees to
‘follow’ the flows of profits.

Imperial Wars and Mass Immigration

The US invasions and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq uprooted several million
people, destroying their lives, families, livelihood, housing and communities and
undermining there security.

As a result, most victims faced the choice of resistance or flight. Millions chose
to flee to the West since the NATO countries would not bomb their residence in the US
or Europe.

Others who fled to neighboring countries in the Middle East or Latin America
were persecuted, or resided in countries too poor to offer them employment or
opportunities for a livelihood.

Some Afghans fled to Pakistan or the Middle East but discovered that these
regions were also subject to armed attacks from the West.

Iraqis were devastated by the western sanctions, invasion and occupation and fled
to Europe and to a lesser degree the US , the Gulf states and Iran.

Libya prior to the US-EU invasion was a ‘receiver’ country accepting and
employing millions of Africans, providing them with citizenship and a decent livelihood.
After the US-EU air and sea attack and arming and financing of terrorist gangs, hundreds
of thousands of Sub-Sahara immigrants were forced to flee to Europe. Most crossed the
Mediterranean Sea to the west via Italy, Spain , and headed toward the affluent European
countries which had savaged their lives in Libya.

The US-EU financed and armed client terrorist armies which assault the Syrian
government and forced millions of Syrians to flee across the border to Lebanon, Turkey
and beyond to Europe, causing the so-called ‘immigration crises’ and the rise of
rightwing anti-immigrant parties. This led to divisions within the established social
democratic and conservative parties, as sectors of the working class turned anti
immigrant.

Europe is reaping the consequences of its alliance with US militarized
imperialism whereby the US uproots millions of people and the EU spends billions of
euros to cover the cost of immigrants fleeing the western wars.

Most of the immigrants’ welfare payments fall far short of the losses incurred in
their homeland. Their jobs homes, schools, and civic associations in the EU and US are
far less valuable and accommodating then what they possessed in their original
communities.

Economic Imperialism and Immigration: Latin America

US wars, military intervention and economic exploitation has forced millions of
Latin Americans to immigrate to the US.. Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and
Honduras engaged in popular struggle for socio-economic justice and political
democracy between 1960 – 2000. On the verge of victory over the landed oligarchs and
multinational corporations, Washington blocked popular insurgents by spending billions
of dollars, arming, training, advising the military and paramilitary forces. Land reform
was aborted; trade unionists were forced into exile and thousands of peasants fled the
marauding terror campaigns.

The US-backed oligarchic regimes forced millions of displaced and uprooted pr
unemployed and landless workers to flee to the US .

US supported coups and dictators resulted in 50,000 in Nicaragua, 80,000 in El
Salvador and 200,000 in Guatemala. President Obama and Hillary Clinton supported a
military coup in Honduras which overthrew Liberal President Zelaya--- which led to the

killing and wounding of thousands of peasant activists and human rights workers, and the
return of death squads ,resulting in a new wave of immigrants to the US.
The US promoted free trade agreement (NAFTA) drove hundreds of thousands of
Mexican farmers into bankruptcy and into low wage maquiladoras; others were recruited
by drug cartels; but the largest group was forced to immigrate across the Rio Grande.
The US ‘Plan Colombia’ launched by President Clinton established seven US
military bases in Colombia and provided 1 billion dollars in military aid between 2001 –
2010. Plan Colombia doubled the size of the military.

The US backed President Alvaro Uribe, resulting in the assassination of over
200,000 peasants, trade union activists and human rights workers by Uribe directed
narco-death squad. Over two million farmers fled the countryside and immigrated to the
cities or across the border.

US business secured hundreds of thousands of Latin American low wages,
agricultural and factory workers almost all without health insurance or benefits – though
the paid taxes.

Immigration doubled profits, undermined collective bargains and lowered US
wages. Unscrupulous US ‘entrepreneurs’ recruited immigrants into drugs, prostitution,
the arms trade and money laundering.

Politicians exploited the immigration issue for political gain – blaming the
immigrants for the decline of working class living standards distracting attention from
the real source : wars, invasions, death squads and economic pillage.

Conclusion

Having destroyed the lives of working people overseas and overthrown
progressive leaders like Libyan President Gadhafi and Honduran President Zelaya,
millions were forced to become immigrants.

Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Colombia ,Mexico witnessed the flight of millions of
immigrants -- all victims of US and EU wars. Washington and Brussels blamed the
victims and accused the immigrants of illegality and criminal conduct .
The West debates expulsion, arrest and jail instead of reparations for crimes
against humanity and violations of international law.

To restrain immigration the first step is to end imperial wars, withdraw troops, and
to cease financing paramilitary and client terrorists.

Secondly, the West should establish a long term multi-billion-dollar fund for
reconstruction and recovery of the economies, markets and infrastructure they bombed
The demise of the peace movement allowed the US and EU to launch and prolong
serial wars which led to massive immigration – the so-called refugee crises and the flight
to Europe. There is a direct connection between the conversion of the liberal and social
democrats to war -parties and the forced flight of immigrants to the EU.

The decline of the trade unions and worse, their loss of militancy has led to the
loss of solidarity with people living in the midst of imperial wars. Many workers in the
imperialist countries have directed their ire to those ‘below’ – the immigrants, - rather
than to the imperialists who directed the wars which created the immigration problem.
Immigration, war , the demise of the peace and workers movements, and left
parties has led to the rise of the militarists, and neo-liberals who have taken power
throughout the West. Their , anti-immigrant politics, however, has provoked new
contradictions within regimes, between business elites and among popular movements in
the EU and the US. The elite and popular struggles can go in at least two directions –
toward fascism or radical social democracy.

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