When powerful institutions want to make our lives worse without us noticing, they announce their plans using the dullest language possible. The European Union’s new “migration budget” is a prime example.

In the unlikely event you paid attention to the EU’s midsummer announcement of its 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework (we can feel your eyes glazing over already), you might’ve noticed a few big numbers. Chiefly: €81 billion allocated to “migration, border management, and internal security,” with €34 billion “specifically allocated to migration management, tripling the funding compared to the previous period.”

Here’s what that means in plain English: the EU is preparing to spend billions of euros to ensure that desperate people seeking safety have nowhere to go.

Why would they do this? Who benefits from it? And how can we fight back? 

A doomed attempt to appease the dying US empire

Since Donald Trump returned to power earlier this year, European leaders have humiliated themselves trying to avoid his wrath. From capitulating on trade deals to increasing military spending to slashing aid budgets, the EU seems to hope that a policy of total appeasement will protect them from the US’ increasingly erratic and aggressive behavior.

Embracing Trumpian immigration policies is another way that European countries are attempting to curry favor, as noted by the Spanish nonprofit Elcano Royal Institute. While anti-immigrant sentiment across the continent predates Trump, enacting harsh crackdowns on migrants is a way for Europe to show whose side it’s on—and who it considers “the enemy.”

Europe’s border police-industrial complex is metastasizing

While it lacks the name recognition of dystopian US agencies like ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement), the European border police agency known as Frontex is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the EU’s new budget. Already one of the largest and best-funded agencies in Europe, it’s set to receive €12 billion in funding, which will allow it to balloon in size to over 10,000 officers by 2027 (up from just 2,100 in 2023).

As Frontex’s budget and staff expands, so does its reach. The agency operates extensively in West and North Africa, seeking to prevent migrants from even reaching the shores of Europe. While Frontex boasts of its work providing “reintegration assistance” to the people it deports, it’s much quieter about its role in thousands of migrant deaths. This is why the Mediterranean continues to be the world’s deadliest border. 

How grassroots groups are fighting back

If it’s not abundantly obvious by now, our corrupt and enfeebled institutions aren’t coming to save us. We can only count on ourselves to defend human dignity. There’s a silver lining, though: a hell of a lot of people care about defending migrants’ rights. And we’re organizing ourselves to do this at scale.

The “Where We Rise” campaign is a prime example. Organized by a coalition of nonprofits across Europe (including Distribute Aid), the campaign aims to raise €1 million to support grassroots organizations working directly with displaced people. 

Every donation goes directly to providing material support to people who need it. Even small amounts can make a significant impact on someone’s life: €10 provides a month’s worth of sanitary pads, €30 provides a month’s worth of diapers, and so on.

So if you’re disgusted by the callousness of “Fortress Europe,” and you have a little money to spare, please consider donating. It might make you feel better—and it will certainly make a difference in the life of someone who could use a little good fortune. 

Quick hits

Here are a few more things you might find interesting:

• If you’re feeling despondent about the state of the world (and doubtful that one person can change anything), you might enjoy this excerpt from a new book about Greta Thunberg and what happens when social movements reach a tipping point.

• This report from Human Rights Watch explains how Europe’s hostility to migrants is increasingly being externalized, even before they reach the continent’s shores.

• Puerto Rico has some of the most robust mutual aid groups in the world, which have helped the island’s residents survive hurricanes, economic crises, and the ravages of disaster capitalism.

• The city of New Orleans marked the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, with marches to honor those impacted by the storm and gatherings for grassroots disaster relief organizers to reflect on lessons learned as they prepare for the future.