NATIONAL BORDERS AS SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONS
Introduction
The national border among different countries has become a vital issue because of their geographical differences. In many states, it has become a geopolitical fight because they are different in their political ways, and they are fighting over the space. The border helps the various nations to stop the dispute and keep their territories[1]. The national border is separated according to how an ethnic group behaves and how they carry out their way of life. They are also divided according to the way people share a common history, physical features, and culture and how they identify themselves to other people. The national border as a social construction is the separation of two countries by constructing a wall, and the people in those countries accept so to stop fighting over the space. The national border is decided when the two countries are facing political threats, terrorism, crime, and competition challenge.
The history of the national border in the world has become a big issue among various countries, for instance, Mexico and the United States of America have become a significant challenge between the two countries. The US-Mexico border has been defined as a periphery and social system. The boundary separates the people of Mexico and those of the United States because of their political and cultural differences[2]. Before the construction of the border wall between the two countries, they used to fight over the space and political issues and the issue of race and difference in color. The people of Mexican faces racism from people of the United States of America because they used to take them as if they are criminals, and they cannot contribute anything to their country. The establishment of the current border between the United States of America and Mexico started back in the 19th century when there was a constant conflict in the Texas region of Mexico and America. The fight began in the year 1846 and ended in 1848 with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The construction of the border wall affected the Mexican nation because they depend more economically in the United States of America.
Before and during World War I, the Mexican revolution was taking place, it causes a lot of destruction in Mexico, and it increases the political instability in the country. The Mexican revolution slows down the investment in the United States of America, and this causes a lot of conflict between the two countries. The insecurity was among the critical issue that arises during the battle, and it creates a lot of threats between the two nations[3]. The continuous battle and raids between the two countries cause fear and nervousness among the two-nation and increase the rate of insecurity in the border of the two nations. The fight and conflict between the two countries forced the United States Federal Bureau of investigation to monitor and investigate suspicious activities and violence in the border that took place within the ten years. This fight forced them to come up with a suggestion of constructing a wall that will act as a barrier between the two countries.
After the construction, the two countries stop fighting and obey the law and orders that were set in the border. The migrants who migrated from Mexico to the United States of America faces a lot of challenges, and the border solders to allow them to cross the border raped them. The two countries were able to separate their differences after restriction of the border. The people of the two countries up to date are restricted from entering the other country. The Mexicans mostly are the one facing a great challenge because the United States of America government do not allow them to enter their country because they associate them with the high crime rate in the country. After the construction of the boundary, the United States of America government said that the rate of crime and terrorism has reduced in the country because they have restricted Mexican from entering their country. Their political differences and the fighting of space ended because they are no longer competing for anything, and the two countries can work differently with their government and their citizens. The Mexicans who were in the United States of America was forced to go to their home country and work there.
The US and Mexico border reflects how other boundaries are and the history that leads to the construction of the border. The border shares the characteristics with the different boundaries; first, the border appears to follow the landscape, but the human being fundamental constructs it. People to stop the conflict of space constructs the boundaries. For example, the ancient wall of Hadrian, which was built in the early century by the Romans across Great Britain to control the marauding tribe from the north and therefore provide stability in the Romans province[4]. The other border is the Chinese border that protects the Chinese Empire from neighbors from the northern part. The second characteristic is that the boundaries are hardly ever static for long. All the borders have distinct histories and its emerging. The third characteristic is that borders everywhere are characterized by incredible social complexity the two countries that they are separated by the border they tend not to practice the culture that other countries are practicing they do their way of things. Another characteristic is that the border world is frequently found far away from the city. The national institution is usually weak in the border region, and the people living in the border are economically and politically marginalized from the life of nations, which they are citizens.
The international boundary between the United States of America and Mexico and other borders across the globe gives an economical, cultural, and social entity. The national border as a social construction is clearly shown in the border of the United States of America and Mexico because it is the border with distinction characteristics where people from highly developed countries and developing nations meet and interact economically and socially. At the end of the nineteenth century, the border of the United States and Mexico was marked as the international border that sparse population that comes in uncertain contact. As indicated during the past years before the construction of the border, the two countries undergo dramatic and rapid changes. After the installation of the border, Mexicans and American people have been united and divided the same way by the border.
In 1994, the United States and Mexico implemented the North America free trade agreement to confront the economic block of Europe and the Far East and the area became a central stage in the international political and economic theater[5]. This trade brings a wide array of economic, social, and political challenges for border residents. Recently, the issue of United States national security has brought more problem for border residents as policies given out by the federal government has generated significant inconveniences such as the excessive delays crossing the border by the people and the economic cost in the border. The deportation of a large number of unauthorized migrants by United States authorities to the Mexican border town has produced severe social and economic impacts mainly to the side of the border.
In the national border, people from different cultural places socially interact. Others ended up marrying themselves and exchanging cultures, and others borrow some ideas from the people of the other side of the land. According to research, a lower percentage of the people who are crossing borders are doing it illegally, but the majority of the people are following the law. Most of the people who are crossing the border globally are going to buy commodities in the other country for business purpose, and those who are going for recreation purposes in the other country. This social impact among different people in the borders creates a good relationship between the two countries, and because they are entering the other country with permission then they bring a significant impact[6]The people crossing the border go to the other country for the exchange of money. They have created an excellent job for the people on the other side of the country, and they have improved the economy of that particular country. The majority of the people are now working at the borders. For instance, taxi drivers transport people who are crossing the borders to various towns, sometimes back and forth, and this is a good indication that the host country will earn a lot of income and improve economically.
The border society in the United States of America and Mexico has become a massive population because people of the two countries are relocating to the borders. According to the population statistics of the border in 2013, Mexicans are the leading people living in the border of the two countries. The region has exchange various cultural activities, and the majority of people living there are those people who originate from Africa and the Native Americans, the migrants from Asian countries, and all kinds of people with a mixture of ethnicity. The culture has developed in the border because of the interaction of this person who originates from different cultures. They socialize and the end up exchanging and mixing various culture and coming up with one culture which has grown from generation to generation.
According to the report from New York Times newspaper, it indicates that the construction of the wall border of the United States of America and Mexico is going slowly because the landowners in Texas have refused to sell the land to the government. Though the United States of America’s government is saying, they will force them to sell the property to the government, whether they like it or not. This declaration came because of the conflict between the two-nation government and the United States government. They wanted to eradicate all the Mexican citizens because of the allegations that they are the leading in the criminal cases across the region. This report is a good indication that even though people are socializing across the borders, the two nations are not yet in good terms because up to the present moment, the construction of the wall crosses the two countries is still going on. The Mexican government has closed the migration borders, and some of the migrants who migrate from Mexico to the United States and vice versa have been stopping doing so because they have no place as the entrance. Those who migrated to either of the countries illegally have been deported to their various countries.
Various articles have been written concerning the United States of America and the Mexico border, with most of the authors putting the focus on the security issue in the border. One of the article’s constructions of security on the US-Mexico border by Ackleson Jason (2005) argues that because of the socio-political context, the two countries are facing security threats in the boundaries. According to him, the security threats across the border is because of competition in powers and orders between the two countries[7]He thought that to end this issue of transnational security between the two countries, and people should be given a chance to exchange ideas across the borders and the leaders to lead by setting an example and building a good relationship between the two nations.
The history of border region across the globe help me to understand the issue of the national border thoroughly as social construction because the countries are fighting for space and after the installation of the border there will be mutual interaction among them. Various borders have been constructed across the globe to bring peace between two conflicting countries. The majority of the cases people fought over the space because they are competing over something that is in the border, and after separating the territories, each country ends up staying peaceful. They socialized at the border, and they exchange cultures and even help in growing the economy of the two nations.
In conclusion, the issue of the national border between the two countries across the globe has become a threat, but after the separation of the territories, people of the two countries will cross the border legally. The economy across the border has grown due to the cultural exchange of ideas between the two nations.
Bibliography
Ackleson, Jason. “Constructing security on the US–Mexico border.” Political Geography, 24, no. 2 (2005): 165-184.
Lybecker, Donna L., Mark K. McBeth, Adam M. Brewer, and Carine De Sy. “The social construction of a border: The US–Canada border.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 33, no. 4 (2018): 529-547.
Vélez-Ibañez, Carlos G., and Josiah Heyman, eds. The US-Mexico transborder region: Cultural dynamics and historical interactions. University of Arizona Press, 2017.
[1] Lybecker, Donna L., Mark K. McBeth, Adam M. Brewer, and Carine De Sy. “The social construction of a border: The US–Canada border.” Journal of Borderlands Studies 33, no. 4 (2018): 529.
[2] Ibid., 533
[3] Vélez-Ibañez, Carlos G., and Josiah Heyman, eds. The US-Mexico transborder region: Cultural dynamics and historical interactions. University of Arizona Press, 2017
[4] Ibid., 540
[5] Vélez-Ibañez, (2017)
[6] Ibid., 539
[7] Ackleson, Jason. “Constructing security on the US–Mexico border.” Political Geography, 24, no. 2 (2005): 165-184.