2023 04 01
xxxx 04 01

Published on GAT.ST - read German Version here
 

" Nehammer sees US facility at the border with Mexico as a model. "

Standard




We get off the train, but we haven't arrived at our destination yet, or we need to transfer. We are just before the border to Bavaria where there is a mandatory train check. We are led through revolving gates into a hall where each person must pass through a revolving door with an integrated body scanner. Then they step in front of a mirrored window, place their passport down and wait to see if a green light on the other side of a door flashes, signaling that they can proceed.

However, this is not always the case. Often, the red light flashes, and one must pass through a third door that leads back to Austria, preventing them from continuing or leaving Austria. It is rumored that this flashing is arbitrary and can happen to anyone, regardless of any personal mistakes or wrongdoing.

As we move through the hall, which resembles a livestock farm with large ceiling fans and bright neon lights, the train is thoroughly scanned outside. One can hear the hum of the motors as the terahertz scanner moves over the train to prevent any stowaways. Along with the sound of the large motors, there is also the rattling of conveyor belts that move our luggage parallel to us through the check and are also scanned.

We move forward slowly, step by step, toward Germany. The process usually takes over an hour, giving us ample time to reflect on how useful it was to draw this whole border around Austria. It was supposed to prevent immigration, but now it also has a massive impact on us Austrians who need to cross the border daily or several times a week.

Back then, everyone cheered on the idea of building a border like in the southern United States. They believed the reports about how effective the wall was, how safe the country was, and that no Mexicans could come north anymore. Deceived by the false belief that border constructions could make migration, smuggling, or crossing the border unnoticed impossible, all politicians thought they had to expand the systems, both technically and physically. First, technical surveillance was introduced, followed by structural measures. The motto was higher, faster, wider - or something like that.

At the same time, more and more opportunities appeared in the darknet. Opportunities on how to get from A to B despite the border were exchanged in the communities. In addition, the unnecessary and costly expansion of the facilities was discussed.

The question was often asked, how many people could you take in, support and accommodate in Austria with over 4.417.000.000 $ instead of building the border? But for those who determined the construction, anyone who did not meet their standards was scary and evil. At least that's how it's sold populistically.

Absurd. How easy it is to influence the masses.

Now I'm moving through this absurd building at the border with the crowd. Finally, I have reached the revolving gate. As usual, I pass through it, place my documents in front of the mirrored window, wait a few seconds until the light flashes, and step to the other side.

Every time I go through the second door, I thank the person who forged my passport. They enable me to still be borderless even though I am not accepted on this side of the border.

No matter how high, deep, wide, or monitored a border is, there is always a way.



References

EU-Grenze soll sicher sein wie Trumps Mauer
Länge der Grenze von Österreich
Trump's 'great wall': How much will it cost? Who's paying?
The World Is Witnessing a Rapid Proliferation of Border Walls
Wie funktionieren Körperscanner?
Trump wall: How much has he actually built?
Steel-slat prototype for Trump's Mexican border wall can be sliced by saw
Trump’s Big Border Wall Is Now a Pile of Rusting Steel
8-year-old girl scales replica of Trump’s ‘un-climbable’ border wall in seconds