Equator’s Nesrine Malik invites the historian Nikhil Pal Singh to unpack Homeland Empire, his essay for the magazine about how the US’ imperialist tendencies overseas are inextricably bound up with its violence at home. Nikhil argues that the current Trump administration is reworking both foreign and domestic policy to create a single domain of impunity that exceeds American borders. 

Nesrine and Nikhil discuss how the recent actions of ICE and the US’ wars overseas are missions with the same end goal. Exploring the similarities of these strategies, Nesrine and Nikhil believe, leaves us better-placed to grasp what is happening – and what political structures are needed to oppose them. Through his vast understanding of the US’ history of race and immigration, Nikhil also describes how the Trump administration has taken advantage of the country’s existing legal structures to carry out his plan, and how these structures were established by both Democratic and Republican governments.

Read Homeland Empire on Equator. To learn more, visit equator.org.