JE #5

After watching “Bodies on the Border” I was completely distressed. I went from angry to teary eyed in less than ten minutes. I could not believe the high number of deaths, and I had trouble comprehending how those numbers continue to escalate. Unfortunately, there is no way of measuring the ambition these people have in order to comprehend their motives for coming to the United States, but realizing that they are willing to risk their lives for a brighter future should be proof enough that they deserve to be treated in a fairly manner. Not like some second-class citizen because of their race and immigration status. I believe this is the reason why I became so upset, grasping that more than half my family had gone through this, put into perspective the risk that they went through to get to where they are today. Not too many people think about those who weren’t so fortune to make it across a live; the amount of desaparecidos today should then speed up the process for an immigration reformation.

The video and The Flower in the Skull have similar characteristics, both show the difficulties individuals must surpass when crossing the border. In the book, Kathleen Alcala depicts the character, Choncha’s life in Northern Mexico. I believe Alcala did this to contrast the attitude of the people she would soon come in contact. In Concha’s section we learn about her Opata heritage and the racism that she endures on account of the Mexican government and society imposed on her people. The part in the book that most resembles the video is when she is traveling with her family through the Sonora Desert, she gets sent away along with her sister with El Gusano. During this time, Concha is abandoned to fend for herself, fortunately she is able to preserver and find her way across the border. El Gusano was not as fortunate; he was consumed by the sun, left to dry in the asphyxiating heat. It is sad to think that this happens all the time, family and friends leave with unstoppable aspiration and are unexpectedly abandoned to fend for themselves by the people who promised to take them across. In the video it was mentioned that these people would be more than willing to give the U.S government the money that they would be paying a coyote for the opportunity of a working visa.  I would think this would solve the problem of so many dead bodies being found in the desert and would encourage an immigration reform.