The Devil’s Highway: Meksika-Amerika Sınırını Geçiş, Global Etkiler ve Politikalar

Meksika-Amerika Savaşıyla (1846) başlayıp 11 Eylül sonrası döneme kadar gelen süreçte ABD-Meksika sınırı kriz, anlaşmazlıklar ve uzlaşmanın temsili oldu. ABD Meksika sınırını geçiş, sert sınır koruma politikaları ve sınır bölgesindeki yüksek ölüm oranlarıyla medyada geniş yer buldu. 2005 Pulitzer Ödüllerinde kurgusal olmayan anlatılar dalında finale kalan, Urrea’nın The Devil’s Highway (2004) eseri göz ardı edilen Meksikalı göçmenlere kendi kişisel-politik sınır anlatısında kendilerini ifade etme şansı vermektedir. Bu makale, sınırı geçmeye çalışan Meksikalı göçmenlerle ilgili temel bir soru sormaktadır: neden sınırı geçmek için bu ölümcül yolculuğa çıkıyorlar? Bu soruya cevap olarak, makale ABD-Meksika sınırını geçmeye çalışan göçmenlerin tecrübelerinde tarihi, kültürel, ekonomik ve politik yansımaları The Devil’s Highway eseri üzerinden incelemektedir. Meksikalıları göç etmeye ve Amerikan toplumu ve ekonomisinde bir yer aramaya iten sınırı geçme mücadelesi Deleuze ve Guattari’nin yersizyurtsuzlaşma ve yeniden-yerliyurtlulaşma kavramlarıyla bağlantılıdır. Arjun Appadurai’nin bahsettiği birbiriyle kesişen küresel dinamikler ve John Tomlinson’nın bahsettiği karşı konulmaz kitlesel medya ve iletişim ağları, Meksikalı göçmenleri yersizyurtsuzlaştıran ve yeniden-yerliyurtlulaştıran küreselleşme döngüsü içinde hapsolmalarını daha da ileriye taşımaktadır. Sınır militarizminin başarısızlığı ve yaygınlaşan yabancı düşmanlığı sebebiyle, Urrea’nın bu politik anlatısı Meksika ve ABD arasında diplomatik, hukuki ve insani açıdan bir iş birliğine çağrı yapmaktadır. Dolayısıyla, Urrea’nın yaşam yanlısı anlatısı ve sınır politikalarında reform çağrısı, sınır kontrol politikaları, sınır ve göç çalışmaları ve sınır hattında insan hakları mücadelesine yeni bir boyut kazandırmaktadır. Disiplinler arası bir sınır anlatısı olarak, The Devil’s Highway Meksikalı kaçak göçmenlerin tecrübelerinde Meksika tarihinin, jeopolitik ve bölgesel dinamiklerin ve küreselleşmenin baskınlığına ışık tutmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

The Devil's Highway, yersizyurtsuzlaşma, yeniden-yerliyurtlulaşma, ABD-Meksika sınırı

The Devil’s Highway: The U.S. - Mexico Border Crossing, Global Influences and Politics

Beginning with the 1846 Mexican-American War and expanding to the post-9/11 era, the U.S.-Mexico border has become the embodiment of crises, conflicts, and reconciliation. The border crossing has occupied the headlines with strict border control policies and high death tolls along the border. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for the nonfiction category in 2005, Luis A. Urrea’s The Devil’s Highway (2004) gives voice to marginalized Mexican border crossers in his personal-political border writing. This article poses a major question about Mexicans crossing the border: why do they embark on a fatal journey across the border? As a response, the article explores the historical, cultural, economic, and political repercussions of Mexican border crossing through The Devil’s Highway. Mexicans’ sense of displacement and search for a place in American society and economy relate their border crossing to the concepts of deterritorialization and reterritorialization, keyed by Deleuze and Guattari. In addition to Arjun Appadurai’s intersectional global dynamics and John Tomlinson’s overwhelming mass media and communication networks, Mexican migrants’ broadened entrapment in a cycle of global deterritorialization and reterritorialization is noted. With the failure of border militarism and prevalent xenophobic responses, Urrea’s political narrative calls for collaboration between the United States and Mexico on diplomatic, legal, and humanitarian terms. Therefore, the analysis of Urrea’s pro-life narrative and his call for border policy reform provide a new dimension to the politics of border control, border and immigration studies, and human rights struggle along the border. As an interdisciplinary border narrative, The Devil’s Highway highlights the predominance of Mexican history, geopolitical and regional dynamics, and globalization in the experience of undocumented Mexican migrants.

Keywords:

The Devil's Highway, the U.S.- Mexico border, deterritorialization, reterritorialization,

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