Is immigration payback for colonialism?

As I was listening to the radio this morning, I noticed a book review discussing, “This land is our land” by Suketu Mehta, born in India, but today a New York-based author and literary prize winner.

In his new book, Mehta tries to untangle the controversy that any discussion about immigration never fails to ignite and based on his experience as a teenager growing up in America and years of reporting around the world, he examines closely the current anti-immigrant discourse.

He asserts that the West isn’t threatened by immigrants, but by its fear of people moving in and disturbing the status quo. He points out that that years of colonialism have left entire continent much poorer and have enable huge multi-national companies to set foot all over the developing world and continue that exploitation, long after the whites have moved on and returned back home.

So when today’s immigrants are asked, “Why are you coming here?” they can appropriately respond, “We are here because YOU were in our countries before.”

The author takes on the today’s false narrative of our populist ideologues and turn them on their heads with the testimony of all the menial workers like janitors, cleaning ladies, nannies, and others coming from the four corners of the world, as he explains why there are more people are on the move today than ever before.

As political unrest and climate change are reshaping large swaths of our planet, it’s not surprising that borders can no longer contain the pressures caused by world-wide inequality.

This is a book I want to read, because it connects with the idea that the world belongs to everyone, that borders are arbitrary and that free circulation of humans can be regulated to become orderly, but at the end of the day, can’t be prevented…