COLUMNS

The Geopolitics of Immigration

Nov 28, 2019 | 10:00 GMT

Migrants seeking asylum in the United States wait near the U.S.-Mexico border at the El Chaparral crossing in Tijuana, Mexico.

(GUILLERMO ARIAS/AFP/Getty Images)

Editor's Note:

Pilgrim and Puritan settlers who arrived in New England in the early 17th century brought with them the tradition of Thanksgiving that was adopted by waves of immigrants who followed. This analysis first published Jan. 15, 2004, examines the role immigration has played — and continues to play — in the evolution of the United States.

The U.S.-Mexican border is in some fundamental ways arbitrary. The line of demarcation defines political and military relationships, but does not define economic or cultural relationships. The borderlands -- and they run hundreds of miles deep into the United States at some points -- have extremely close cultural and economic links with Mexico. Where there are economic links, there always are movements of population. It is inherent....

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