Last Thursday, the exit column on the front page of EL PAÍS was headed by a headline that read: “Marlaska imposes himself on Escrivá and for the immigration reform.” And on the inside pages, a piece of information – which led to the editorial – explained that “Texas had sent police vehicles to the border to create a steel wall in front of the migrants.” These are two examples of the cruel reality of migrations that generally only make the news when the level of atrocities in this war against the pariahs – the losers of the political, economic, social and racial conflicts of this world – acquires such a dimension that it breaks the ground. silence that imposes the impotence of the States to attend to the destiny of those who seek to migrate to survive misery, war, contempt and hatred.
The expectation of the arrival of Biden to the presidency of the United States is heading straight for frustration
The hypocrisy of the rulers, always in fear of what they will say, hiding behind the pathetic speech of the question of opportunity (Félix Bolaños), favors the criminalization of immigration, with which the extreme right and part of the right seek to attract the citizenship. The fact is that the governments of our countries, beyond a few good words, are incapable of assuming the humanitarian emergency and hypocritically delegate to authoritarian border states that, in exchange for money, leave the exploiting mafias free and treat the most weak without mercy. Nobody is capable of changing the rhythm of things, and the expectation of Biden’s arrival to the presidency of the United States, after Trump made the burden of the migrant his main flag, is heading straight for frustration.
The contrast between the two stories is both interesting and bleak. Interesting because the first of them refers to an integrating idea emanating from a part of the Spanish Government to channel the lives of some children without protection who, upon reaching 18 years of age, are sentenced outdoors without any legal recognition. That is to say, the will to advance little by little by means of the resolution of concrete questions in a global problem for which it is evident that there are no magic solutions and that reminds us that no matter how much we fantasize “humanity that is not constituted as such ”(Edgar Morin). Which does not justify the use made, not only by extremists but also by seemingly respectable rulers, of the fate of these people as a scapegoat for the miseries of our societies.
The sum of concrete actions is essential to build a different way of facing the problem. And this is the value and meaning of seeking ways that favor the fate of minors who come to our shores and our streets, which is the terrain on which the initiative that right now divides the Spanish government is situated: giving papers to young people , as a basis to frame their future, and facilitate educational and work integration. It is sad that one has to come to the conclusion that not even a progressive government of a country that cannot be considered overwhelmed by immigration can agree to achieve real advances that rescue these young people who are denied a path. According to Eurostat data, the number of asylum seekers in Europe between 2014 and 2020 was 1.1% of the population. 0.7% in the Spanish case. Does it really justify the disdain of some and the hatred of others?
The number of asylum seekers in Europe between 2014 and 2020 was 1.1% of the population. In Spain, 0.7%
And let’s not lose sight of the bleak horizon to which folly leads. In the United States, the rejection of immigration (on the texture of a deeply installed and recurrent racism in the constitutive conflicts of that nation) is a permanent theme in the political confrontation. Republicanism has made its flag with the conviction that it is an inalienable weapon of its success and the Democratic party does not dare to fight, fearful that it will take its toll when it comes to going to the polls. And so the governor of Texas, unleashed, goes after the immigrants without regard, convinced that if Biden fell into the trap of defying him it would be the first great Republican triumph after the fall of Trump.
If not even a gesture like the one that Escrivá proposes is acceptable, what hope can there be of putting an end to this moral failure of humanity, which is the determination to leave those who migrate in despair to their fate, while mafias and authoritarian powers are consolidated at your expense?
