Externalization requires that states devote resources to building, maintaining, and enforcing border policies in other countries. It also demands incentives that would allow so-called “transit countries” to become at least temporary hosts or detention centers for migrants seeking to reach the US and the EU. In these spaces, entirely new economies emerge that allow migrants, humanitarian organizations, and private actors to sustain themselves. This session discussed the economic policies and incentives behind externalization and their impact on the emergence of new alternative and shadow economies, as well as the political and economic dynamics surrounding the ongoing privatization of border enforcement in the US and EU.
The first talk titled, “The Political Economy of EU Border and Migration Management” by Kaija Schilde (Boston University), focused on privatization and growth in security defense of the EU borders. Dr. Schilde highlighted the outsourcing of migration management and detention to private firms by states to evade bureaucratic risk, responsibility, and accountability — resulting in a focus on profit rather than public good as a consequence of handing over responsibility to market actors. The second talk titled, “The Colonial Origins of Migration Management in Kenya” by Nick Micinski (University of Maine), traced the colonial connections of current EU management of migration and movement from Africa, specifically in the case of Kenya. Dr. Micinski examined how EU aid in Africa, since colonialism to the present, has primarily focused on EU interests in controlling migration and follows three patterns: (1) forced encampment in rural areas, (2) racialized policies, and (3) implementation by the security apparatus. The third and final talk of the seminar titled, “Securing the US-Mexico Border, Externalization Policies, and the Impact on Migrant Journeys” by Caroline Miles (University of Texas Rio Grande Valley), analyzed the US externalization policy that forces migrants to seek asylum in a third country, such as Mexico, before applying for asylum in the US. Dr. Miles argued that while this aims to securitize the US’s border by keeping asylum seekers away from the border and creating an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ framing, it increasingly de-securitizes migrants’ lives—resulting in higher risk for danger and unsafe conditions en route and longer wait times for asylum.
Recording: