I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
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January 27, 2026
I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
Borders are both crime scenes and crimes, with nationalism the motive.
Patrick Strickland
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Border fence construction has begun at the US-Mexico border in March 2023. The new fence that will replace existing fencing at the Friendship Park San Diego–Tijuana area, which has served as a meeting point between the two cities for those families unable to reunite because of their immigration status.
(Carlos Moreno / Sipa USA via AP Images)
This article originally appeared at . To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from .
After a year of gutting the United States government, deploying armed jackboots to American cities, and bombing at least seven countries, the Trump administration kicked off 2026 by invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. In the wake of that assault, President Trump doubled down on his abandonment of the isolationist positions he once supposedly held, threatening military action against Colombia, Cuba, Iran, and Mexico. He then vowed that the United States would come to “own” Greenland either “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
In truth, American imperialism defines much of this country’s history, but the latest escalation comes at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have also been deployed around the nation to grab immigrants off the streets and whisk them to detention centers. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to preach the jingoistic gospel of stopping the arrival of new refugees and migrants, while blasting European governments over migration—even as he vows to launch military campaigns that will undoubtedly result in further mass displacements and fleeing people crossing borders in search of safety.
Destabilizing countries the world over and then attacking the people who flee those wars is, of course, nothing new. From the September 11 attacks in 2001 until September 2020, this country’s war on terror, according to one study, displaced an estimated 37 million people in eight countries. And that figure doesn’t even include several million displaced during smaller conflicts the United States participated in from Chad to Tunisia, Mali to Saudi Arabia. Nor does it include the number of people displaced by Israel’s five wars since 2008 in and around the Gaza Strip, its land theft in the occupied West Bank, or its frequent air strikes in Lebanon, Syria, and even Iran, all made possible thanks to Washington’s financial and …
This affects the entire country.
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I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
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Current Issue
January 27, 2026
I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
Borders are both crime scenes and crimes, with nationalism the motive.
Patrick Strickland
Share
Copy Link
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Ad Policy
Border fence construction has begun at the US-Mexico border in March 2023. The new fence that will replace existing fencing at the Friendship Park San Diego–Tijuana area, which has served as a meeting point between the two cities for those families unable to reunite because of their immigration status.
(Carlos Moreno / Sipa USA via AP Images)
This article originally appeared at . To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from .
After a year of gutting the United States government, deploying armed jackboots to American cities, and bombing at least seven countries, the Trump administration kicked off 2026 by invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. In the wake of that assault, President Trump doubled down on his abandonment of the isolationist positions he once supposedly held, threatening military action against Colombia, Cuba, Iran, and Mexico. He then vowed that the United States would come to “own” Greenland either “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
In truth, American imperialism defines much of this country’s history, but the latest escalation comes at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have also been deployed around the nation to grab immigrants off the streets and whisk them to detention centers. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to preach the jingoistic gospel of stopping the arrival of new refugees and migrants, while blasting European governments over migration—even as he vows to launch military campaigns that will undoubtedly result in further mass displacements and fleeing people crossing borders in search of safety.
Destabilizing countries the world over and then attacking the people who flee those wars is, of course, nothing new. From the September 11 attacks in 2001 until September 2020, this country’s war on terror, according to one study, displaced an estimated 37 million people in eight countries. And that figure doesn’t even include several million displaced during smaller conflicts the United States participated in from Chad to Tunisia, Mali to Saudi Arabia. Nor does it include the number of people displaced by Israel’s five wars since 2008 in and around the Gaza Strip, its land theft in the occupied West Bank, or its frequent air strikes in Lebanon, Syria, and even Iran, all made possible thanks to Washington’s financial and …
I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
This affects the entire country.
Log In
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Password *
Remember Me
Forgot Your Password?
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I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
Magazine
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Subscribe
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Magazine
Latest
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Economy
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About
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Current Issue
January 27, 2026
I’ve Covered Migration and Borders for Years. This Is What I’ve Learned.
Borders are both crime scenes and crimes, with nationalism the motive.
Patrick Strickland
Share
Copy Link
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Bluesky Pocket
Email
Ad Policy
Border fence construction has begun at the US-Mexico border in March 2023. The new fence that will replace existing fencing at the Friendship Park San Diego–Tijuana area, which has served as a meeting point between the two cities for those families unable to reunite because of their immigration status.
(Carlos Moreno / Sipa USA via AP Images)
This article originally appeared at . To stay on top of important articles like these, sign up to receive the latest updates from .
After a year of gutting the United States government, deploying armed jackboots to American cities, and bombing at least seven countries, the Trump administration kicked off 2026 by invading Venezuela and kidnapping its president, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife, Cilia Flores. In the wake of that assault, President Trump doubled down on his abandonment of the isolationist positions he once supposedly held, threatening military action against Colombia, Cuba, Iran, and Mexico. He then vowed that the United States would come to “own” Greenland either “the easy way” or “the hard way.”
In truth, American imperialism defines much of this country’s history, but the latest escalation comes at a time when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have also been deployed around the nation to grab immigrants off the streets and whisk them to detention centers. Meanwhile, Trump has continued to preach the jingoistic gospel of stopping the arrival of new refugees and migrants, while blasting European governments over migration—even as he vows to launch military campaigns that will undoubtedly result in further mass displacements and fleeing people crossing borders in search of safety.
Destabilizing countries the world over and then attacking the people who flee those wars is, of course, nothing new. From the September 11 attacks in 2001 until September 2020, this country’s war on terror, according to one study, displaced an estimated 37 million people in eight countries. And that figure doesn’t even include several million displaced during smaller conflicts the United States participated in from Chad to Tunisia, Mali to Saudi Arabia. Nor does it include the number of people displaced by Israel’s five wars since 2008 in and around the Gaza Strip, its land theft in the occupied West Bank, or its frequent air strikes in Lebanon, Syria, and even Iran, all made possible thanks to Washington’s financial and …
