Israel to Build a Wall on Egyptian Border to Keep Migrants Out

Another wall is going up in the Middle East. Israel is to start construction of a security barrier along the 266km border with Egypt to stop the flow of undocumented migrants. Looks like the US is not alone.

First there was the security barrier that Israel built along its border with the West Bank. More recently Egypt started building an underground barrier of its own on its border with Gaza to prevent smuggling. And now Israel says it’s building a wall on its border with Egypt.

The New York Times reports:

Thousands of African and other migrants have come to Israel through its porous border with Egypt over the last few years, fleeing conflict back home or searching for a better life in the Jewish state.

Netanyahu said Israel would continue to accept refugees from conflict zones but "we cannot let tens of thousands of illegal workers infiltrate into Israel through the southern border and inundate our country with illegal aliens."

The project will cost 1 billion shekels ($270 million) and take two years to complete. The barrier will not be erected along the whole border, which is 266 km (166 miles) long.

Advanced surveillance equipment will help border control officers to spot infiltrators.

Egyptian security sources in North Sinai said Israel had not informed the Egyptian authorities of its plan.

Israel is also building a controversial barrier in and around the occupied West Bank. It says the razor-tipped fences and towering concrete walls are needed to stop suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities. Palestinians it a land grab because it cuts through the West Bank in places.

Here is the story from PRI's "The World:"

Gated Communities and Nation States

How nation states are like gated communities.

Born to Midwives = No Passports?

"In its crackdown on passport applicants, the U.S. Department of State is targeting people born to midwives or parteras, along the Texas- Mexico border. The US State Department sites the history of fraudulent birth certificates along the border." And now many born legally are being denied passports. Watch this video.

International Star Shah Rukh Khan Stopped at New Jersey Airport

Ironic Story of the Day: Being stopped at the airport because your last name is Khan while being here promoting a film about racial profiling in the US called "My Name is Khan." That is what happened to international star Shah Rukh Khan. The Guardian reports:

Shah Rukh Khan, India's most popular actor, was held at Liberty International airport in Newark on Saturday as he tried to enter the United States. He says he was quizzed for two hours by a US official who apparently had no idea that Khan was one of the world’s most famous men.

Khan’s next film, My Name is Khan, is about an innocent Muslim’s experiences of being mistakenly identified as a terrorist in the United States in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. In it, the actor plays a man with Asperger’s syndrome, whose behaviour – and ethnicity – raises the suspicions of the US authorities. The fictional Khan then sets off on a trip across the US to find President Obama and persuade him that he is not a terrorist.

The suggestion that the real Khan, who was named one of the world’s 50 most influential men by Newsweek magazine this year, fell victim to the same kind of racial profiling depicted in the film has met with outrage in India.

Some more from the The New York Times; NPR

Some are accusing the star of a publicity stunt. However, I would not be surprised if it actually did happen, because this type of profiling happens frequently at American airports.

Can the Real 'Undocumented Immigrant' Please Stand Up?

Mexico Kicking out U.S. Citizens?

Yes, according to the Onion:


Mexico Builds Border Wall To Keep Out US Assholes

Why is everyone talking about El Paso?

Earlier I posted about the US's safest cities- which all have heavy immigrant communities. Well, El Paso has a high undocumented population, lax gun laws, high poverty rate, and is right across the border from Juarez. But it also has the second lowest rate of violent crime in the country. Radley Balko explains this anomaly.

Also see Immigration Impact.

What happened between the US and Canada on June 1?

Starting June 1 America had a new requirement on the Canadian border: for passports or other approved identification to be shown at entry points. Indeed there has long been a large discrepancy between the type of border control on our southern border versus our northern border. However, Secretary Napolitano wants to change that discrepancy. But this process proves to be messy because a culture of free borders has been established. Take for example the twin towns of Stanstead, Quebec, and Derby Line, Vermont. The Economist reports, "in these towns, the line that looks so neat on maps is a messy business, running through a factory, a combined library and opera house, and a number of homes. In some cases it lies between the bedroom and a morning cup of tea."













The Economist reports:

Speaking to reporters before a two-day visit to Canada, on May 26th and 27th, Ms Napolitano said she wanted to “change the culture” along the 8,900km (5,500-mile) line to make it clear that “this is a real border.”

Her words are a clear sign that the Obama administration will not only uphold but enhance measures introduced since 2001, despite complaints from both sides of the border that they impede movements of all sorts, particularly trade in goods that was worth $1.6 billion a day in 2008. Ms Napolitano tried to assuage Canadian concerns during her visit, talking of the need to help trade, jobs and growth. But her department’s plans to install heat-detecting sensors along the border, put more surveillance drones in the sky and place additional cameras along the St Clair river in Michigan and the Upper Niagara in New York are taken by some frontier communities as a personal affront.

(Picture from Economist, May 28, 2009)