Unsettling the Border

Rather than an inquiry of genuine value, the common question of whether one is in favor of “open borders” or not has turned into an exercise that highlights the public’s misguided perception of immigration policies and their origins. In Unsettling the Border, Sherally Munshi argues that in order to meaningfully address the question of open borders, it is necessary to defamiliarize, disenchant, and decontextualize borders historically, legally, and intellectually. The paper seeks to bring an alternate perspective to contemporary immigration discourse by bringing the concept of the border itself into a normative analysis on migration and membership. Part I of the article addresses the contemporary climate of immigration in relation to resurgent nationalism during the Trump administration. Part II examines the history of conquest and expansion to highlight the Southern border’s imperial roots. Finally, Part III argues that the crisis of unauthorized migration is a byproduct of the inequalities perpetuated and preserved by the border. The study finds that beyond its physical presence, the border plays a part in a broader social formation and racial economy shaped by colonial capitalism and settler nationalism. (Flora Meng for The Immigrant Learning Center’s Public Education Institute)