Ramification | What is the point of a sovereign state if borders don’t matter?

The recent terror attacks on Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert venue brought to the fore the debates around illegal immigration once again. The four men arrested for the terror attack that killed over 143 people and injured nearly 350 people, were identified as citizens of Tajikistan who were in the country either on temporary or expired documentation. As a result of the deadliest attack on Russian soil since the 2004 Beslan school siege, Russian authorities stepped up their crackdown against illegal immigrants deporting hundreds to temporary detention centres. Many of those deported had failed to complete Russia’s mandatory military registration. The Islamic State (ISIS) took responsibility for the attack.

In 2015, former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to grant asylum to over a million refugees not only caused a migration crisis but according to experts undermined Europe’s security and identity. Immigration to the European Union (EU) largely came in from Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. A government-supported study led partly by Christian Pfeiffer, a criminology expert revealed that crime rose by 10 per cent in 2015 and 2016 and more than 90 per cent of the perpetrators were male refugees. In November 2023, Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) stated that the findings in their report on immigrants and crime was “frightening”.

According to the BKA report, crime by asylum seekers and refugees went up by 18 per cent from 2021. Heiko Teggatz, the chairman of the Federal Police Union said “What many have always suspected is now proven. There’s nothing left to sugarcoat here. The federal and state governments must now act consistently and exhaust all possibilities to deport such criminals”. Additionally, a Pew Research Centre report estimates that 3.9-4.8 million unauthorised immigrants lived in Europe in 2017. The Interior Minister of France Gerald Darmanin warned EU of being naive by ignoring the link between uncontrolled immigration and terrorism.

During the Israel-Hamas conflict, a series of bomb threats resulted in over 130 flights being cancelled and security being ramped up in major tourist destinations. A rattled Europe also had to contend with two Islamic militant attacks in France and Belgium resulting in many countries like Italy reimposing border control because of the fear of terrorists entering their countries. However, the greatest threat was said to be from a “lone wolf” attack, which is harder to track and prevent.

Similarly, across the Atlantic, in the US the disaster unfolding on the southern border is unprecedented. It has been reported that under the Biden regime between 7-10 million illegal immigrants have entered the country. Through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Centre for Immigration Studies, it was revealed that US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) approved secret flights that brought in over 300,000 illegal immigrants to reduce the extraordinary number of people crossing the border. Elon Musk too took to X to accuse Biden of creating vote banks at the cost of national security. He further warned that there was a real possibility that groundwork was being laid for something more sinister than 9/11.

Many critics of illegal immigration have also alluded to Venezuela’s rate of violent deaths being at their lowest in more than two decades. As reported by Bloomberg News, Robert Briceno Leon, director of The Venezuelan Violence Observatory stated that “Young people, who have traditionally been the main victims of violence, have fled while criminals and gangs have emigrated due to the lack of opportunities to commit crimes.”

US Congressman Troy E Nehls alongside 13 other Congressmen in an official letter dated 22  September, 2022 asked for clarification from Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of Homeland Security on the findings of the US Department of Homeland Security intelligence report received by Border Patrol that instructed agents to look for violent criminals coming from Venezuela among the migrant caravans heading towards the US-Mexico border. The letter also referenced reports of rapists and murderers being released early from Venezuelan prisons and forced to cross the border as well as news reports of two young girls being sexually assaulted by Venezuelan illegal immigrants in the US. The letter also pointed to the recent establishment of the dreaded Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua which has the distinction of specialising in torture techniques.

The question of illegal immigrants is not just a problem exclusive to Western countries. In India too, with the Manipur conflict in 2023, the role of illegal immigration from Myanmar came to the fore. Their role was evident in not just the conflict but also in opium cultivation, drug smuggling and illegal arms trade. This prompted the Government of India to revoke the Free Movement Regime (FMR), an agreement that allowed free movement up to 16 km without a visa. Much like the US where Fentanyl trafficking from the southern border is at an all-time high, and has killed over 110,000 Americans last year, in India’s northeast borders it was heroin and methamphetamines that were being smuggled into India.

However, irrespective of the considerations there are many flagbearers of open borders. From political leaders to migration experts and pressure groups, many across the spectrum fashion themselves as “leaders of the free world”—a world that is without boundaries and relies solely on humanitarian responses. In Europe, Angela Merkel was hailed as a figurehead of Western liberalism, and in the US, Rep Alexander Ocasio-Cortez is perhaps one of the loudest voices working towards a “path of citizenship for all”. In India, we have the Left lobby and the Congress-led opposition. These groups lobbied for the problematic Rohingya to be allowed in amongst other groups in debates surrounding the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), an Act that firmly made a distinction between genuine asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. They further vehemently went up against the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC), a nationwide exercise that would register citizens to identify illegal immigrants who would further be deported.

As magnanimous and romantic as the ideals of open borders may be, the fact of the matter is that such magnanimity comes at a cost. Even though economists such as Bryan Caplan have argued for open borders as a tool to eradicate absolute poverty, policy building today cannot be dependent on piecemeal assessments. The open border argument does not outweigh national security concerns and entirely erodes the principles of national sovereignty.

The nation-state within the Westphalian system is founded on political authority over territory and autonomy and thus international order is dependent on sovereign states. The EU today is an example of the result of the erosion of sovereignty, a union that was founded on economic collaboration in time attempted to forge itself as a political union wherein the most contentious issue has become illegal immigration.

Analysts have in hushed tones after BREXIT cast aspersions on the longevity of the EU. Even in the run-up to the upcoming elections in the US, the signature issue of illegal immigration will be the deciding factor. The fight is simply between Joe Biden’s open border policy and Donald Trump’s strong stance against legal and illegal immigration. In India too, one of the main issues in the upcoming general election is the NRC.

Border controls and deportation of illegal immigrants are policy issues in the hands of elected governments, where choices must be made wisely. Maintaining territorial integrity, demographic stability and security will determine the sovereignty of a state and strengthen liberal international order.

The author is an anthropologist and a scholar of the Northeast region of India. She is a columnist and author and presently Distinguished Fellow at India Foundation, New Delhi. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.