Comparing Border Crossing between the US/Mexico Border and the Spain/North Africa Border - Research Paper Example

 The current day society is increasing obsessed to seal and secure border with policing and with the erection of tall boundary walls. Teddy Cruz, the architect and philanthropist stands to differ from the social and political barriers installed in places such as the Tijuana – San Diego border. Cruz advocates an inclusive strategy to let the communities, culture and ecology of bordering societies continue to live in a harmonious manner. According to him, the idea of a wall should give way to developments that collectively improve the lives on both sides of the border with affordable sustainable housing which has the prospect to transform neglected suburbs into developed areas (Drawn Here: Teddy Cruz). Teddy Cruz has been designing an architectural model to rethink and rebuild American suburbs usually dwelled by immigrant population which comprise of auto repair shops and plywood hovels besides other shanty settlements. The architectural ideas of Cruz are combined with a method to unlock the gated communities of immigrants to a better immigrant suburb that forms a better neighborhood. The vision of Cruz is considered as a cult especially in the event post 9/11 incidents where security is being tightened and new ideas to block borders such as the construction of 10 foot steel wall that would separate San Diego and Tijuana are considered by lawmakers. Cruz sees the obstruction of the border as a threat to cultural exchange that enriches and civilizes people on either side. The construction of a wall can harden the attitude towards the use of public space. Therefore division and exclusion policies must make way for the preservation of heterogeneity (Shantytowns as a New Suburban Ideal p.1). Tijuana, the Mexican suburb bordering the United States is separated by a wall made of used tire mixed with earth. The housing in the area is crude with sheets of corrugated metal, concrete blocks, discarded packing crates and used garage doors that are sold by wholesalers or contractors who bring it from the other side of the border. A settlement completed in this form is protected by the Mexican law and is not subject to demolition. The government provides electricity, plumbing and roads to access the settlement. Cruz views this as a flexible, democratic method of urban development that are not the usual methods found in other parts of the world (Shantytowns as a New Suburban Ideal p.2) The Tijuana – San Diego border has received the attention of the American Congress that has resulted in a proposal to revamp immigration policy. But some lawmakers are proposing to further extend the fence along the border. For example a fence from Arizona that stretches 700 miles. The American fence is viewed as an insult to Mexicans or rather views it as a business opportunity. The long stretch of fence at Tijuana is covered with advertisement and another part of the fence has coffins and crosses indicating that people have died while trying to cross the border – a warning signal. Before the wall was built a single strand cable was used to demarcate the U.S. – Mexico border. The American Border Patrol claims that millions of illegal immigrants crossed the border before the wall was built and that the number has reduced at a rate of about 95 percent with the construction of the wall. Resident on the American side of the fence claims that the wall has a negative consequence because people traveling between Mexico and the United States for work are now settling down in the United States since border crossing is a difficult task. Further illegal immigrants take more dangerous routes to enter the United States resulting in thousands of deaths (Robbins). The efforts to legalise border crossing has received a nod from the American government. Border crossing is proposed to be made user friendly by the proposed construction of a 175 m pedestrian bridge between US-Mexico border with a passenger facility at Tijuana airport that includes parking, customs inspection facilities and ground transportation. The construction is proposed to start in 2011 according to a United States department of state report (San Diego-Tijuana border crossing). Border crossing is a global phenomenon where people from poor economies move to find better standards of life in economically rich countries. Irregular border crossing into European Union has been on the rise in the recent past. However the push-back pact of Italy has reduced the number of illegal immigrants. Similarly there has been a significant decline in the number of border crossing in Spain with the introduction of a new anti-immigrant offensive. The number of illegal immigration in Spain reduced from 7068 to 1994. Eurodac rules controls the movement of illegal immigrants in Europe and requires nations to record the biometric database of immigrants by taking the finger print of aliens above fourteen years of age and have arrived through irregular/ illegal border crossing by sea, land or air and are not turned back. The EU law has made it mandatory to send the fingerprints of border crossers to a central database maintained by the commission. The procedure is followed to check the details automatically against asylum applications to keep away duplications and to check whether migrants have crossed to other European Union state. It is reported by Eurodac that around 60000 asylum seekers submit applications in more than one country. During the year 2008 – 2009 Spain turned back thousands of immigrants before their official arrival. Spain has increased police cooperation with African nations, especially, Mauritania, Gambia, Senega, Cape Verde, Morocco and Guinea – Bissau to deliver satellite information through European Union funded system called Sea Horse that started operation in 2008 and permits police to track vessels carrying migrants around the Atlantic coast between Europe and Africa. Asylum seekers who enter through Spain mostly travel further to Switzerland or France. The United Nation’s High Commission for Refugees has criticized the Eurodac procedure as an asylum shopping system that has gives substantive protection through a harmonized asylum system that makes it friendly for refugees (Phillips). Once African irregular immigrants reach Spain they manage to settle. A minority of the immigrants apprehended by Spanish border guards are returned to their country of origin. Sub-Saharan African nations are usually reluctant to cooperate with forced readmission of huge number of illegal migrants. Most of the migrants destroy their documents to avoid expulsion. Spain however gives temporary residence to minors, pregnant women and asylum seekers on humanitarian grounds. The apprehended migrants are released for a detention period by offering an expulsion order which is normally ignored and the immigrants move on to other European Union nations or stay underground in Spain and find jobs in the informal service, construction or agricultural sector. Irregular immigrants in Spain obtain residency papers through regularisation campaign or through marriage. European states in the southern region have responded to continuing irregular immigration by increasing border control. Spain has made an attempt to seal its borders by erecting fences at Melilla and Ceuta and by the installation of an early warning radar system called Integrated System of External Vigilance or SIVE at the Strait of Gibraltar. The radar system is now extended to Canary Islands. The increasing sub-Saharan immigration is dealt by Spain by the externalisation of border control by pressurising North African nations to curtail irregular migration and sign readmission agreement by assuring in exchange development aid, military equipment, financial aid for border control and a restricted number of temporary immigrant work permit. From the year 2003 onwards, Spain and Morocco have started a collaborative effort for border control. In 2006, Spain took support from Frontex – the European Union external border control agency to check the routes between Cape Verde, Mauritania, Senegal and the Canary Islands by helicopter, air plane and patrol boat (de Haas). It may be concluded that border crossing at Tijuana- San Diego and North Africa- Spain borders have several similarities and contrasts. While measures are formulated to stop immigrants at both the borders, humanitarian measures are implemented to deal with the immigrated population. The contrasts lay in the number of people being killed at the Tijuana border while there is no much death rates caused by security officials at the Spain North Africa border. Works Cited de Haas, Hein Trans-Saharan Migration to North Africa and the EU: Historical Roots and Current Trends. Transit or Settlement? 2006 Available: http://www.migrationinformation.org/feature/display.cfm?ID=484 Drawn Here: Teddy Cruz, Estudio Teddy Cruz Available: http://calendar.walkerart.org/event.wac?id=4230 Phillips, Leigh. 50% drop in EU irregular migrant border crossings after Italy-Libya pact Available: http://euobserver.com/22/30580 Robbins, Ted. San Diego Fence Provides Lessons in Border Control 2006 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5323928 San Diego-Tijuana border crossing awaits presidential approval – Mexico 2010 Available: http://www.bnamericas.com/news/privatization/San_Diego-Tijuana_border_crossing_awaits_presidential_approval Shantytowns as a New Suburban Ideal 2006 Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/arts/design/12ouro.html?_r=1 Read More