The Devil's Highway Summary

In "Migra! A History of the U.S Border Patrol", By Kelly Lytle Hernandez, she explores the controversial issue today known as the dissension that surrounds our border with Mexico. Hernandez also outlines the policies and ideology of the U.S Border Patrol that were discovered and really brought out in the early 1920s to the late 1920s. She does a detailed research on the beginning to what becomes the authorized United States Border Patrol.

Throughout history, humans have always been afraid of anything and anyone unlike their culture. Even in the twenty-first century, there is heated debate surrounding illegal immigration in America; some believe that illegal immigrants from Mexico are stealing jobs and harming the economy. These irrational fears are discussed in Luis Alberto Urrea’s book, “The Devil’s Highway,” which tells the true story of 26 illegal immigrants who are abandoned after crossing the U.S. border. Through this true story, Urrea shows the mistreatment of illegal immigrants, and his use of historical examples reveals that immigrants have always been subject to prejudice and persecution in the United States.

In Rachel St. John’s book, “Line in the Sand: A History of the Western U.S.-Mexico Border,” the author offers up “a history of how and why the border changed” (St. John 1). This is her central thesis that she presents, providing evidence and historical context concerning the border and its changes over the course of the late 1800s to the mid-1900s. In seven chapters plus and introduction providing more general information and a conclusion that brings the U.S.-Mexico border situation into the present day, Rachel St. John’s focus is both periodical and geographical. St. John moves across both space and time in her book, looking at how region and era affected the border situation and how these effects differed in significance. St. John takes

This may explain why the states have recently “engaged in unprecedented levels of immigration policy-making” (Boushey & Luedtke, 393). The recent attitudes towards immigrants, especially since the attacks of 9/11, have been dismal at best and aggressive at worst. Boushey and Luedtke argue that in the general public of the U.S., immigrants are perceived as potential threats to national security. However, studies show that the longer a culture is exposed to immigrants, the fear is reduced and a stable, accepting society will eventually be produced (Boushey & Luedtke, 396). Regardless of whether or not the threat of terrorism in the U.S. is actually rising, the public opinion of immigrants is forcing the state governments to become more involved in immigration policy.

The border between the United States and Mexico is nearly 2,000 miles long. Over the past few years, the United States had form a policy called Secure Fence Act to prevent drug sellers and terrorists out of America (Clifford). The act constructed fences to cover about one third of the border between Mexico and America along California, New Mexico, Texas and so on. Unfortunately, there were less environmental considerations when making the policy. The Los Angeles Times reported that in additional to build the fences, the United States government has been eluded over thirty environmental and cultural laws (Campbell).

Within the past one and a half centuries, ever since the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, it allowed the United States to take a large portion of land. Since then, many Mexicans have been trying to emigrate themselves over to America, leaving behind their homelands. Mexican immigration in the early 1900 's was a huge issue that impacted the United State, in areas such as urban population, employment and many other ways. The mass number of Mexican immigrant 's that migrated to the United States from Mexico was at nearly half million in between the years of 1920 and 1929. Mexicans left their native land and moved to the United States not only to achieve financial prosperity, but to get out of the chaotic environment that Mexico was in at

The book, The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea, is based on the true story of the Yuma-14 or Wellstone 26, who were Mexicans that crossed the American border and died while doing so. This novel goes through not only the story of the Yuma-14 but the background of what happened before their journey and after their deaths, as well as the mentalities of the Border Patrol agents. It gives you the complete picture of what had happened. The Devil’s Highway starts off with a brief background about what happened.

Humans rarely change their ways; they stay in their own worlds and always interact with the same types of people. Unfortunately, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate human beings from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea provides a personal perspective to immigration by telling the story of 26 illegal immigrants, known as the Wellton 26, who are abandoned as they cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea proves there are invisible borders among people that create prejudice, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. By reading The Devil’s Highway, it is clear that these barriers must be broken down to ensure harmony within society.

Humans are like parrots; what society tells them, they repeat and believe to be true. However, this habit often creates unseen barriers that divide and alienate people from one another. In Luis Alberto Urrea’s book The Devil’s Highway, Urrea tells the story of 26 illegal immigrants who are abandoned as they attempt to cross the Mexico-U.S. border. Through their story, Urrea reveals that there are invisible borders that create discrimination, such as language, ethnicity, and economic status. In order to break down these borders, education is essential to prove that they are unnecessary constructions of society.

The number of immigrant to America reached 1.25 million and had a big tendency to increase. Americans began to doubt the government’s open door policy. Under pressure of the public, Immigration Act was passed on February 1917. Why American started feeling “angry” toward those new immigrants? The answers are: they were often poor; many of them were illiterate and had a big different cultural and religious background.

He argues this case through many sources, one of which described that Mexicans are not capable of straying away from their own culture and even included U.S. born Mexicans Americans, thus making them more prone to creating a new nation within the U.S. southwest (35-36). Chavez explains that the scholar does not

Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.

As a result of their emigration, America was now viewed as “multiethnic and multiracial” and “defined in terms of culture and creed” (Huntington 1). On the contrary, when people traveled across the border from Mexico, their culture was not so widely accepted. Mexican traditions and values were seen as a “serious challenge to America’s traditional identity” (Huntington 2). The “original settlers” of America were incredibly open to people travelling from Europe, but when people came from Latin America, they were

An article in the daily newspaper, El Tiempo, stated, “ The American government acted like a bandit who came upon a traveler” (Doc C: “A Mexican Viewpoint on the War With the

In this section, I will discuss the portrayal of immigration in United States magazines, television media, and the three tendencies of United States media in covering immigration in general. Magazines and Newspapers In his book, Covering Immigration: Popular Images and the Politics of the Nation, Leo R. Chavez (2001) discusses the way United States magazines reported on immigration from Mexico. The magazines studied in this book overwhelmingly depicted the United States-Mexico border as a war zone, and use buzz words such as invaders, at war, invasion, and so on to reinforce the us v. them mentality of the U.S. public (Chavez, 2001). These buzz words create a sense of moral panic in the public, as the immigrants are seen as a threat to our society (Welch,