In her essay The Border Patrol State, Leslie Silko argues that the federal drive to stop illegal immigration has turned the southwestern United States into a police state. As evidence, she relates her own personal experiences and encounters with the Border Patrol, as well as the experience of others. She tells of a time when she was stopped and searched by Border Patrol cars, and when she was detained in the ironically named town of Truth or Consequences. She relates the experiences of two friends who were also stopped on a pretext and questioned or searched.
The essay does an excellent job of supporting her claims. Silko narrates the experiences with vivid and sometimes terrifying details. She starts the essay talking about how she was told that she was privileged to live in a country where people could travel anywhere without being stopped, and contrasts this throughout with stories of innocent people being inflicted with the same violation they were told that they were immune from. She ends the essay with the same ironic tone she started with, writing about the uselessness of border protection constructs and agencies. Finally she concludes by predicting that despite the billions of dollars expended, the borders will never really close.
For further information, you might want to consult the following:
(inspired by last class)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVAOqZlJQn8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bo7M_vKpb4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNPA88RUzWk
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