Borders are ubiquitous; some are physical, others are not; some are rigid, others are not, but all have the same purpose, that is, to prevent two groups from interacting in a particular way. The border that exists between the United States and Mexico is no different, as author Leslie Marmon Silko can attest to in her work Border Patrol State. Even though her work is dated by roughly two decades, her message still persists, perhaps more clearly now than ever, in light of presidential candidate, Donald Trump’s, proposal to construct a multi-billion dollar physical border separating Mexico and the US. This topic is analyzed by comedian John Oliver’s in his piece, Border Wall where he, similarly to Silko, describes the asinine struggle the government …show more content…
As proven through Silko’s own testament, the border patrol clearly does not make Americans feel safe. And, while Silko does not directly speak of those that this system stops, she does mention many people that are wrongfully stopped. In each of these stops patrolmen waste time, energy, and resources on individuals with valid identification. Silko recounts her own experience when saying, “I was detained once at Truth or Consequences, despite my and my companions Arizona drivers license” (Silko 2). She continues on to speak of other people, namely of mixed descent, whom were stopped under similar circumstances, while whites were rarely stopped. In these accounts the system is helping no one; the border patrolmen are not detaining illegal immigrants, and citizens are forced to conceit their liberty or face further struggle, all while valuable resources are being wasted. In Border Patrol State, Silko makes numerous illusions to the feeling of freedom while driving down the vast, open highways characteristic of the south, or being taught in schools that every citizen has the right to freedom, although, unfortunately as her somber tone alludes, the border patrol state takes that freedom away. Citizens with valid credentials are coerced and bullied into being stopped and searched for all sorts of illegal contraband ranging from drugs to undocumented immigrants. If one is not complicit with patrolmen, they can be detained or forced to wait hours on end for search warrants which will in most cases end in a mandatory strip search, even if they have
The United States Border Patrol has a mission and duty to protect our borders through regulating laws and preventing illegal terrorists, drugs, and weapons from entering the United States. This has been a clear goal ever since laws have been passed to help secure our borders back in 1924. The need for Border Patrol and the demand for tighter security plans have been increasing due to terrorist attacks on American soil, the presence of radical groups, and a high rate of crime in the United States. The big idea here is that as crime continues to develop so will our border securities. I would like to primarily focus on the current role of the Border Patrol versus what it might have been in years past. Many tragedies have occurred in recent times more than what was experienced years ago. The United States has suffered throughout the year 2000 and continues to suffer from severe threats to the nation. It only makes sense to make changes and tighten our borders in order to help prevent the ongoing crimes. If the Border Patrol does this than the individuals living in this nation will live in a better and much safer environment. Along with their current role, the research on the Border Patrol’s changes that either have hindered their work or made them more effective will be looked into as well.
They are pushed around and even have the dog unleashed on them. She goes onto compare the treatment of Mexican-Americans by the United States Border Patrol to, “Argentina’s “dirty war” in the late 1970’s”(124). From here it is onto how well the border patrol discriminates, and how they will do their best to find any reason to bring the brown man down. Silko explains the way in which people are detained. She actually reaches out to the reader and tells him or her personally how they could identify themselves being detained. She makes claims throughout this explanation of how the detainee is treated unjustly, like when she states, “They make it clear that if you force them to obtain a search warrant for the car, they will make you submit to a strip search as well”(125). Silko starts to bring some half-way evidence into the picture by talking about the more high profile cases of the abuse of the border patrol’s power. She gives us more facts as we reach the middle of the reading. Eighty percent of the respondents from a survey done by the University of Arizona in South Tucson identified that one in every five had been detained, mistreated, or questioned by INS agents in the past two years. “Manifest Destiny…-“lock the door” is what it means now,” introduces an idea Silko finds to be just(126). The solution Silko says is no border. “Even
The 45th president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, is a political man who has many ideas to improve the U.S. One of the many idea he had included building a wall between the borders of the United States and Mexico for the “purpose of controlling immigration into America”. According to Trump this wall is supposed to help our country with its national security. In reality though, many people believe that the wall is showing Trumps true colors. Many people are contemplating on the fact if Trump is a racist person who is building the wall because it provides a method of targeting and preventing those who are trying to cross the Mexican-American Border. In reality, Trump only cares about trying to make “America Great Again”, and
The border between the United States and Mexico consists of 1,952 miles of land border that divides a “first” world and “third” world nation. Any border is an environment of opportunity. People flock to borders around the world to exploit the regions’ resources and people. There are always plenty of people at the borders of nations to build large factories, or to traffic narcotics and weapons into neighboring nations.
Although written in 2003, Andreas’ article “Redrawing the Line” provides an interesting perspective into national sovereignty and contemporary anxiety regarding American border security, specifically as applied to Mexico. Poignantly, the author states that no state will ever ensure complete control of its territorial integrity by sealing its borders (109). However, Andreas contends that this reality does not, in fact, imply that “states have ‘lost control’ over their borders” (110). Furthermore, he offers an interesting perspective into the different types of borders, which he categorizes as military, economic, and police (85). Each type of border, and its associated security, maintain their own costs and benefits. For example, although strict
Since the very beginning agents have been patrolling our borders, “Mounted watchmen of the U.S. Immigration Service patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as 1904” (Border Patrol History, web). The agent’s efforts were undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors were all out of El Paso, Texas, “Though they never totaled more than seventy-five, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration” (Border Patrol History, web).
Comparatively, by 1869, the railroad industry reconstructed the transportation of goods and people conveniently and securely across the United States of America (Schultz, 2016). Additionally, railroads helped to shape the western economy not only through it's more dependable means of transportation of goods but also to the new developments of towns located near its stations (Schultz, 2016). Historically, the transcontinental railroad began by the signing of the Pacific Railroad Act on July 1, 1862, by
Since the beginning of human civilization, there continues to be a strong relationship between the state and their chosen religious institution. According to an interpretation of an anecdote of Thomas Jefferson, “He didn’t say he say he believed in the Christian God; he evaded that point. But Jefferson did agree with what all his colleagues in the founding thought that a people cannot maintain liberty without religion” (Novak, M., 2006). While the relationship is inevitable as it is used to unify a population, true government should seek as diminished a relationship as possible. While religious freedom is essential to what America was founded on, it cannot infiltrate our governmental systems
This year’s election cycle brought heated debates and discussions about many things; “the wall”, free trade, NAFTA, immigration issues, borders security and policy issues. Regardless of which side of the political isle you stand, which way the political winds sway in Washington D.C., one thing is certain not to change with the election cycle, and that is, the actual physical border between The United States and Mexico. Therefore, if we can’t change that, and we can’t, then there needs to be solutions to problems that continue to exist between the two sovereign countries. Trade and Security are two of the most important factors for neighboring countries and they must not be ignored. Beyond just good political, diplomatic, and strategic vision it is important to understand there are cultural, education and diversity complexities which takes tremendous and often times delicate maneuvering to come together for the greater good of both economies and governments, as millions of people rely on successful trade agreements and security.
There are multiple political forces that are playing a part in the border security/illegal immigration controversy. The current administration has publicly made reference that they will not revisit securing the border without a comprehensive immigration reform bill. The conservatives believe that in order to have a discussion regarding immigration reform, securing the border must come first. Depending upon which “side of the isle” that a person takes regarding the securing of the border, they fall in two categories – the conservatives mainly reside on the pros, and the liberal party tends to side on the cons of building a fence.
The U.S. Border Patrol started its service for our nation in 1924. Even though some changes have affected every aspect of the operations from its early days, the values, professionalism, honor, integrity, and respect helped shape the Border Patrol from the early years and they still remain the same today. Since the very beginning agents have been patrolling our borders, “Mounted watchmen of the U.S. Immigration Service patrolled the border in an effort to prevent illegal crossings as early as 1904” (Border Patrol History, web). The agent’s efforts were undertaken only when resources permitted. The inspectors were all out of El Paso, Texas, “Though they never totaled more than seventy-five, they patrolled as far west as California trying to restrict the flow of illegal Chinese immigration” (Border Patrol History, web).
Cities on both sides of the Mexican-American border are continuously terrorized by drug cartels as a way to keep control over shipping routes and silence from citizens. (Wilkinson 2008) In 2010 an employee of the United States Embassy in Mexico was murdered along the Mexico-American border. This added tension to the ongoing drug trafficking problem and raised the issue of Mexico’s inability to control its own borders. Felipe Calderon, the President of Mexico, stated that he is seeking a stronger relationship with the United States. The effects of this relationship can be seen on the streets with the intensified level of violence against the drug cartels and the effectiveness of the government. (Dresser 2009)
The United States border with Mexico is one of the most interesting borders in the world. Although it is not a military front like the border between the Koreas or as militarized as the border of Russia and the Ukraine, there is a lot going on that requires attention. The southern border of the United States is different from almost all of those in the world because many of its problems are based off of the economic disparity between each country. The difference between wealth and quality of life is substantial and results in people going beyond regular means to cross the border to have a better life. There is also a large difference in the legal and law enforcement system that is exploited by Mexican cartels to make money through drug and human trafficking. The differences between these two
Throughout the course of history, society had stereotyped women, making it merely impossible for a woman to achieve her goals and desires in life. This had weighed them not as equals, and for this, they were given different standards by which to live. At this day and age, and during the ancient Greek times, women have always been treated as second best by biased men, although today’s society has started to understand this inequality better as time progresses further into the future. Even with society becoming more equal for women, females are still treated similar as to time of the ancient Greeks. Women still don’t have as much power as men, are still “blamed” for wrongdoings and thought as untrustworthy, and are still used as “currency”
Throughout history of the United States and Mexican border there has been multiple depths of changes and immigration. From the area trading country ownership to population changes to having a fence line created on it. Seen in Figure1, the U.S.-