In The Land of Open Graves, Anthropologist Jason De León provides semi fictionalize personal stories of how US immigration policy effects the lives of border crossers. De León focuses on “Prevention through Deterrence”, the strategy of guiding border crossers towards the Sonoran Desert in order to let the hostile conditions discourage potential crossers and punish those who follow through. De León humanizes his ethnography in order to illustrate the pain and suffering that “Prevention through Deterrence” has caused.
The humanized approach taken by De León provides the reader with an emotional route to understanding the actions, motivations, and struggles of border crossers, as well as making the book more accessible to the average person who
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He illustrates the suffering people experience at the hands of the desert, the loss that shatters the families of those who lose their lives during the journey, and the desire for the American Dream that motivates the border crossers to risk their lives. The emotional tales in the book give a face to a group of people who are nothing more than a statistic to many Americans. The vast majority of people seem to have no comprehension of the impact that different policies will have, regardless of their support for or rejection of our current immigration policy. Big picture information about illegal immigration is intangible and incomprehensible to most. The emotional arguments provide readers with information that the average person can work with, such as the story of Memo and Lucho crossing the border and eking out a life in the US afterwards (De León 167-201). The stories provided by the book can also connect the effects of immigration policy on the individual to the impact it can have on large groups of people who had no intention of crossing the border. For example, the testimony about Maricela’s life and death provided in Chapter 10 connects the suffering Maricela experienced to the pain her family and friends feel after they learn of her death (De León 243-264). These stories aid in the creation of better arguments about illegal immigration. …show more content…
While I can cite counter statistics just as well as anybody else, I would be lying if I said I understanding these large scale numbers and arguments. Those who disagree with my opinion on the subject more than likely share my ignorance about the nitty gritty of immigration policy. Despite my lack of understanding of the large scale impact of immigration policy, I believe I can still have a well education opinion on the subject matter. My opinion is informed by my sense of morality and compassion for fellow human beings. Everyone is capable of holding an opinion of this form. While The Land of Open Graves seeks to appeal to this emotion based opinion and put a face on illegal immigration, I already saw the face the book tries to illuminate. Despite my previous knowledge, the book still had a powerful impact on
Enrique’s journey from Honduras to the U.S. unveils the innate loyalty of a loving child to their mother and presents the dangers that a migrant faces on the road with consistent angst; nevertheless, it supports the idea that compassion shown by some strangers can boost the retreating confidence within a person. In Sonia Nazario’s “Enrique’s Journey,” he seeks the beacon of light that all migrants hope to encounter; “El Norte.” Like many children before him, it is the answer to the problems of a hard life. While being hunted down “like animals” leading to “seven futile attempts,” he is
In Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book, Labor and Legality: An Ethnography of a Mexican Immigrant Network, she allows us to enter the everyday lives of ten undocumented Mexican workers all living in the Chicago area. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz refers to Chuy, Alejandro, Leonardo, Luis, Manuel, Omar, Rene, Roberto, Lalo, and Albert the ten undocumented Mexicans as the “Lions”. This book shares the Lions many stories from, their daily struggle of living as an undocumented immigrant in America, to some of them telling their stories about crossing the border and the effects of living in a different country than their family, and many other struggles and experiences they have encountered. Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s book delves into
In Our Fear of Immigrants, Smith begins with the story of a fourth grade class in Berkeley, California that is devastated by the loss of their friend, Rodrigo Guzman, whom authorities sent back to Mexico because of an expired visitor’s visa. With the help of their parents, these fourth graders in Berkeley, California sent their friend a comforting video and wrote a letter to their Congressmen in protest against the deportation of Rodrigo. Smith then tells of the protestors in Murrieta, California who blocked buses transporting undocumented immigrants to a holding facility (751).
‘Coyotes’ (Conover. T. 1987) was written in the hopes that it would help better understand the impact that illegal immigration had on the two societies, American and Mexican, and since Conover is an American citizen, and was at the
Through juxtaposition, she contrasts Enrique's non-public struggles with large systemic problems, which include poverty, violence, and immigration coverage. By framing Enrique's adventure as emblematic of the studies of infinite migrants, Nazario underscores the urgency of addressing root causes and enacting significant reform. In her editorials, Nazario in addition employs rhetorical gadgets to enhance her arguments and initiate action. She makes use of anecdotes, statistics, and professional tales to strengthen her claims, attractive to each motive and empathy. By intertwining non-public narratives with broader social evaluation, Nazario efficiently humanizes complicated problems and galvanizes readers to take a
In the novel Enrique’s Journey, Sonia Nazario demonstrates the onerous journey of illegal immigrants. Sonia Nazario aims for the readers to make them understand what most of the immigrants go through during their journey to the United States. By appealing to ethos and pathos throughout the book, Sonia Nazario portrays the path that Enrique undergoes to reunite with his mother.
During Enrique’s home life he has dealt with many obstacles that shape his decision of setting forth into the United States. The average American will need to get an insight about the struggles and difficulties migrants like Enrique must face in their journeys north and what they endure in the United States after they arrive. Enrique’s hand of justice has been quite different than the average American because of the strong economic disadvantages, his childhood and family struggles, and his journey north to be reunited with his mom. In this essay I will begin to tell you about Enrique’s pre-birth/childhood, his neighborhood, and his journey in Honduras and the United States.
The Land of Open Graves was a dynamic piece that followed stories of the Mexican-American Border land through a series of anthology-like stories. What made chapters 1 -5 so impactful were the ways in which the stories were conveyed. The author began with a tale of people scouring the desert for undocumented, human remains. Then there was a fictitious journal that mimicked the reality of four migrant workers. Other entries included an explanation of death in the desert, the following of humor in migrant workers and life in the deported role. Although all of these different stories seem divergent, they have central theme that the author draws on throughout the first 100 pages – the unparalleled hostility and negligence perpetrated by the government. The author is adamant about the idea of “Prevention Through Deterrence” and the harsh reality about the border and the way the United States treat those who cross the border. I would like to explain my reaction to each of the chapters below.
“The Homeland, Aztlan” by Gloria Anzaldua sent me to the memories of the little Mexican guy, who I met working as a hostess in Brazilian Steakhouse, my first part time job in the U.S. We never got along, because I did not speak English well, and it seemed like he never talked at all. Unremarkable busboy, I was shocked with his story that I heard from one of the servers, and I was surprised how much suffer and asperity this little man went through. He crossed the border illegally, hunted by police and customs, and walked through the desert, hiding and sleeping in the mountain caves to finally reach desirable America. He suffered and went through so much to work tirelessly for the money that I, my shame, was complaining for.
In it, she explains her concerns and criticisms for the development and enforcement of the US-Mexican border, arguing that it is an infringement on the free right to travel. She backs these arguments up with a series of anecdotal accounts and experiences, using few statistical evidence. As a result, Silko’s essay becomes very powerful pathos wise, but weak when it comes to logos and ethos.
In the reading land of open graves by De Leon, discusses the dangers that millions of Mexican and central Americans face when trying to get into the United States undocumented. These people include people who have the dream of living in America and creating a new life where they can support their families. Also for those who have been deported back to Mexico being separated from their families and are in hopes of being reunited with their loved ones. These people face a hard battle ahead of them because they have to travel through the Sonoran desert of Arizona that is one of the largest deserts in North America. And have to deal with not only fighting the harsh desert elements, while only caring as many supplies as they can. They also have to deal with the structural violence that goes under looked that thousands of Mexicans have to face while migrating to the United States.
Ruth Gomberg-Muñoz’s, Labor and Legality is a book written on the Mexican immigrant network in the U.S. She centers it on the Lions, a group of Mexican men from Leon, Mexico that all share their lives and help explain the many networks and strategies that are used in order to excel and gain happiness. There have been many different sorts of misconceptions about immigrants, and in recent years about undocumented immigrants from Mexico. The U.S. has made a sort of war on illegal immigrants and has made it a seemingly high priority in the media and in politics. Therefore, many Americans have been mislead and ill-informed about the history of immigrants/undocumented immigrants. Gomberg-Muñoz’s Labor and Legality helps set us straight. She unveils undocumented immigrants for the people that they are instead of the criminals that the media leads many to believe. Although she doesn’t have a wide range of participants for her study, I believe that she addresses many of the misconceptions and just plain ignorance that American people have of people that are undocumented; why stereotypes are supported by the people themselves, why politicians include stronger illegal immigration laws, and everything in between. Many of her topics reveal a sort of colonialism that the U.S. practices on Mexico; the exploitation of undocumented peoples to the benefit of the U.S. through economics, hypocritical laws and campaigns, and the racist and prejudice consequences.
But what is a real American? A piece of paper? If not that, than how far back do you have to be able to trace your lineage to claim the right to live in this country? Author Jason De Leon aims to answer questions like this in his book, 'The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail '. De Leon, an anthropologist and expert in the field, took it upon himself to study the paths of immigrants coming into America through the Sonoran desert region in southern Arizona over the course of the last decade.
A large portion of transitioning into adulthood is the realization, the biggest and most life-altering one is discovering that not everything is as you imagined or hoped. Francisco Cantu’s essay “Bajadas”, is a great example of this as it discusses his changing viewpoints regarding his job as a Border Patrol agent as he comes to realize more about what the job truly entails. Unveiling the disappointing and sad truth of life is a pivotal point in someone’s life, having the ability to make or break the person, clearly seen in the essay as Cantu discusses a year’s worth of experiences with the Border Patrol. Cantu’s personal experience is an effective way to shed light on a plethora of issues regarding Border Patrol and Immigration and the
Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, shares his life-long journey as an undocumented immigrant in his text, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” As the title suggests, Vargas attempts to convey to his audience, who likely never has and never will experience anything similar to what he has, what it is like to live as an immigrant in the United States of America. Skillfully, Vargas details the perfect number of personal stories to reach the emotional side of his audience, which is anyone who is not an immigrant. Through the use of his personal accounts Vargas is able to effectively communicate that immigrants are humans too while simultaneously proving his credibility, as he has experience and a vast amount of knowledge