Lacey Dodge

Reflection Paper

While immigration and border issues were a major discussion topic in the months leading up to the last election, it seems that most Americans (myself included until recently) really have no idea what the border looks like. Unless a person lives within the border region, he/she likely has no idea of the complexities of the region and the people that live within it. At the start of this trip, the only knowledge of the border I had was from a single, brief crossing experience between San Diego and Tijuana and the stories from a friend of mine who crossed over illegally seven years ago. From this class I learned more than I ever realized there was to learn about the border region and the issues it encompasses.

The thing that surprised me the most from the start of the trip was how similar each side of the border appeared. Because of the many stories I’d heard of the poverty in Mexico, I had expected the border to be a stark line between images of wealth and poverty. Instead, in nearly all of the places that we crossed, it was difficult to see any differences at all. The towns looked exactly the same. American corporations like Wal-Mart and Home Depot filled the Mexican cities just as they do in America, while the American side was full of Mexican culture and language. In fact, on many occasions it was easier to find an English speaking server in a nice restaurant in Mexico than in a restaurant in the US. While in Brownsville, I asked Pancho’s wife (whose name I can’t remember, sorry) about languages, and she told me that nearly all American border town residents are bilingual, since both languages are so prevalent.

The more time I spent on the border, the more the border itself began to fade away. Both of our visits with the border patrol reinforced that idea. Though the border patrol officers do their best to secure the border, and may be a deterrent to some extent, I got the feeling from them that still anybody who wants to cross will eventually be able to. Since an illegal border crosser isn’t prosecuted, he is merely returned back over the line to try again. He will likely be successful before he has attempted enough times to be prosecuted. With such a system, the idea of a secure border is a complete illusion. All it would take to get across would be a large group of people crossing together. The border patrol could catch a few of them but the rest of them could all get away. Once they have made it into a US city, they are essentially free to blend in and do as they please because very few places actually check for citizenship. My friend who is illegal has been able to go to school and get a job here without her status ever being questioned. She told me that as long as it is not a government job, no one usually checks on the accuracy of a social security number. Though it is against the law for employers to hire illegal immigrants, it happens often and fairly openly with little or no consequence.

After seeing everything that we saw during our trip, I find it truly amazing how much money we spend on securing our border and how few tangible results actually come from it. A part of me thinks that the best thing to do would be to open up the border completely and use the money for something more effective. If we are truly concerned about illegal immigration, some of that money needs to go towards cracking down on illegal hiring. Otherwise, there is very little that the border patrol can accomplish.

I think it’d be a good idea for all Americans to spend some time in this region. Not only is it exciting and fascinating, but it puts our own country and the people in it into an entirely new perspective.