- People across the world are fleeing hunger, climate disaster and violence. The Vertical Border looks at what happens when forced migrants head to the US-Mexico border to claim dignity and rights, but arrive to a hostile welcome.
- Millions of people worldwide are being uprooted from their homes and communities. Central Americans are fleeing from economic precarity, climate disaster as well as state and criminal violence. Most head towards Mexico and the United States in search of a livable life. The Vertical Border looks at what happens when forced migrants demand dignity and rights. How does the United States externalize its borders in an attempt to stop desperate migrants from reaching its territory? How does Mexico cope with the pressures of being a buffer state where displaced populations are trapped in inhospitable limbo?
- Millions of people across the globe are escaping food insecurity, the effects of climate change, government corruption as well as state and criminal violence. Central America, a small territory south of Mexico, is no exception to these trends. The region emerged from U.S.-sponsored civil wars, but it has not found peace. Today, Guatemalans, Salvadorans and Hondurans find their lives and livelihoods under threat. Many feel compelled to seek shelter and safety in Mexico or the United States. Their rights under assault at home, yet lacking legal migration options, Central Americans have no choice but to cross borders irregularly in the hope of obtaining asylum or temporary stay abroad.
In Mexico a drug war rages. The government has deployed the Armed Forces to fight criminal groups trafficking drugs to the United States. Since 2006 the country is the site of brutal clashes between rival groups and the security forces. The militarized strategy is behind an unprecedented escalation of homicides and disappearances. Forced migrants travel through Mexico's drug smuggling corridors, clandestinely to evade checkpoints. Along these routes, migrants are easy prey. Criminal groups target them, often in collusion with corruption migration and police officers. Some victims get kidnapped for extortion, others get killed or go missing. Mexico's human rights crisis has been widely documented, but the state stands by as the violence takes its toll.
Central Americans have long passed through Mexico with the intention of reaching the United States. It is there that many have relatives and opportunities beckon. Restrictive U.S. border policies, tightened even more by the Trump administration and revived by President Biden, make the crossing increasingly hard. Mexico's asylum system, chronically underfunded and understaffed, is overwhelmed by applications. The claims process is protracted and uncertain. Central Americans encounter discrimination and xenophobic attitudes as they struggle to get by. Many never manage to apply for asylum, as the authorities routinely fast-track irregular migrants for deportation. Pressured by its northern neighbor to prevent unauthorized foreigners from ever reaching U.S. territory, Mexico has created a vast enforcement apparatus to impede their transit. Militarized drug and migration strategies form a line of deterrence that stretches across the length of Mexico's territory.
The film travels along this "vertical border" to look at how Central America's displaced navigate the cruel migration and asylum policies of Mexico and the United States. The documentary uses archival footage to depict the bitter legacy of U.S. intervention in Central America. Interviews with migrants, journalists, human rights defenders and officials assisting refugees drive the narrative. We hear about the enormous challenges facing Central America in a time of rising populism, Bitcoin fantasies and drug trafficking conspiracies that reach into the highest echelons of power. We witness how migrants are hunted by the authorities and Mexico has become a waiting room for thousands of asylum seekers. We discover how the United States unloads refugees in dangerous Mexican border cities and restrictive policies push migrants into the hands of unscrupulous smugglers.
The human drama that unfolds along the vertical border cannot be ignored. Yet there are no easy answers to the complex issues raised by the film. The Biden administration promises to tackle the root causes of migration from Central America. But will transnational corporations meet workers' needs or just provide more precarious jobs? Is the United States serious about tackling corruption and impunity in Central America? Or will it turn a blind eye to abuses as long as governments in the region allow the U.S. to extend its border beyond its jurisdiction? Like other countries in the Global North, the United States keeps fortifying its borders through physical barriers and technology. But do borders make nations safer or do they stoke fear and deepen social divisions? Are we ready to imagine a world with bridges instead of borders, a world where our humanity unites us, a world where we cooperate to solve shared problems? In a world of growing inequality and proliferating walls, The Vertical Border is a timely film about the harmful effects of restrictive migration policies. It calls on all of us to treat the displaced with decency and dignity.
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