Analysis Of La Migra By Pat Mora

1030 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Informative essay on immigrants

The poem “La Migra” was written by Pat Mora in 1993, it is divided into two stanzas for two different points of view. They both depict a boy and girl playing a game in which they take turns being a border patrol officer and an illegal immigrant crossing the border. Throughout the poem some dangers faced by immigrants are indirectly referenced. The poem does a great job at explaining the scenario of illegal border crossing from the views of children as well as from two different perspectives, someone in power and the victim- the maid crossing over the border. Illegal immigration is seen as the worst thing in American culture from the perspective of racist Americans, however those people fail to take into account the obstacles and the dangers faced everyday by migrants …show more content…

In “The Outer Border” the author of the article explains “Although much goes unclaimed border officials have been abusing their power when handling immigrants… (Altman)” With this statement Altman expresses that border security officials have been ultimately crossing the line as some would say, when they come into contact with migrants. “I can touch you wherever I want, but don’t complain too much because I’ve got boots and kick- if I have to, and I have handcuffs too. (Mays,1216)” Through this statement Pat Mora brings to light the raping of Mexican women when crossing the border, by border security. In the article “The Border Violence against Illegal Immigrants” there is a claim that reads, “The Agent is suspected of raping the three, who included a mother and her 14 year old daughter… (Houston)” This claim supports the lines that are stated above because it forms an example explaining what Mora states in La

Show More
Related

  • Identity And Empowerment In Juan Felipe Herrera's Poem 'Borderbus'

    362 Words  | 1 Pages

    In a story of identity and empowerment, Juan Felipe Herrera’s poem “Borderbus” revolves around two Honduran women grappling with their fate regarding a detention center in the United States after crawling up the spine of Mexico from Honduras. While one grapples with their survival, fixated on the notion that their identities are the ultimate determinant for their future, the other remains fixated on maintaining their humanity by insisting instead of coming from nothingness they are everything. Herrera’s poem consists entirely of the dialogue between the two women, utilizing diction and imagery to emphasize one’s sense of isolation and empowerment in the face of adversity and what it takes to survive in America.

    Read More

  • Queer Aztlan Summary

    313 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the book ”Queer Aztlan: The Re-formation of Chicano Tribe” written by Cherrie Moraga, she mentioned the Mexican border. The American army captures the Mexican capital in 1847, and the Mexican border was created in 1848 in order to let the Mexicans away their homeland which is lost at Mexican-American War. Moraga thinks there is a border between male and female, the male using the female but don’t give them help. Moraga also mentioned, “In a queer Aztlan, there would be no freaks, no others to point one’s finger at” (Moraga 235). This was talk about the fictional border.

    Read More

  • Abuse of Power in La Misma Luna, and Enrique’s Journey

    808 Words  | 2 Pages

    In both the movie, La Misma Luna, and the newspaper series, Enrique’s Journey, migrants are faced with many issues. The most deadly and scarring issues all relate back to bandits, judicial police, and la migra or Mexican immigration officers. The problems that arise are serious to the point of rape, robbing, and beating. It is not easy crossing the border illegally and secretly, but the successful ones have an interesting or even traumatic story about how it worked for them.

    Read More

  • What Is Migra A History Of The Border Patrol Summary

    1268 Words  | 3 Pages

    A leading American historian on race, policing, immigration, and incarceration in the United States, Kelly Lytle Hernandez’s Migra! A History of the U.S. Border Patrol tells the story of how Mexican immigrant workers emerged as the primary target of the United States Border Patrol and how, in the process, the United States Border Patrol shaped the history of race in the United States. Migra! also explores social history, including the dynamics of Anglo-American nativism, the power of national security, and labor-control interests of capitalistic development in the American southwest. In short, Migra! explains

    Read More

  • The Borderlands Summary Sparknotes

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    Many of the people trying to cross the border were not given same luck. Their efforts to leave the situations they are in only cause them a different kind of pain. The lack of safety for these people was astonishing. As Jessie was, I was impressed by Anazulda’s description of living there and the realistic depiction of how it was to live there. As Natalie put, I also loved the realistic writing that Anazulda brought to this piece. She did not try to ease the tone or make it lighter than the reality of the situations. She brought the realness of what happened there to life in her writing, which I greatly admire. The imagery that Brooke points out from Borderlands from page 2 is such a clear image of being trapped within a place you cannot escape from. While I had not thought of the curtains in such a way, I understand the reasoning behind it. Curtains are supposed to provide privacy, shelter from the outside world. Yet, these steel curtains are prisons, keeping those near them from getting away. As Jessie pointed out, the United States is governed to protect the rights of each American citizen, including each of us. Nevertheless, Anazulda and many others who try to cross the border can be subjected to the rules of those who live near the borders and not the laws of the United States that are in place to protect them. I did not think about the call for unity as Natalie described until I read her essay. While she does not make light of the situations caused in the United States, she does leave this impression of hope that we can fix this. We can make it so these borders are less of walls that divide us, and we can make the journey in our country a less terrible and horrifying

    Read More

  • Summary Of Before We Were Free By Julia Alvarez

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the view of a young girl, this story really captures what it’s like to feel like immigration is the only option for a family. In the story, set in the 1960’s, Anita lives in the Dominican Republic, a country with a dictator named el jefe. One day at school, Anita’s cousin is called out of class, and Anita is asked to go with. She finds out that her

    Read More

  • Rob Guerette Research Design

    1365 Words  | 3 Pages

    The article by Rob Guerette is a case study involving the widely-reported increase of immigration into the United States. It tackles migration issues as well as related issues such as border security , security initiatives by individuals.. The article also provides in-depth research about the impact of illegal immigration into the United States including migrant deaths, deaths of non-migrants at the border, border security and the challenges faced by United States border patrol officers. The main purpose of the article was to provide an explanation as to whether the Border Patrol has any effect in saving the lives of people attempting to enter into the United States (Guerette, 2007).

    Read More

  • The Mother Tongue by Demetria Martinez

    2546 Words  | 6 Pages

    Martinez, Demetria. 2002. “Solidarity”. Border Women: Writing from la Frontera.. Castillo, Debra A & María Socorro Tabuenca Córdoba. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 168- 188.

    Read More

  • Prejudice Explored in "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

    874 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Tortilla Curtain and Black Boy are two of the many books which illustrate the discriminations going on in our unjust societies. Through the words of T.C. Boyle and Richard Wright, the difficulties illegal Mexican immigrants and African Americans had and still have to face are portrayed. Though their experiences in poverty were terrifying, the minorities’ desire for a better future was what helped them through their lives.

    Read More

  • My Life As An Undocumented Immigrant Summary

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    Jose Antonio Vargas’s article on My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant is a writing about his childhood journey from the Philippines to the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant. Vargas writes this article to emphasize the topic of immigrant and undocumented immigrant in the United States. He uses all three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logic in his writing, in specific, he mostly uses pathos throughout of his entire article with a purpose for the reader to sympathize and to feel compassion for him. The use of these appeals attract many readers, they can feel and understand his purpose is to ask for others to join and support other people who undocumented immigrant like himself. In addition, it gives other undocumented immigrant people courage

    Read More

  • La Migra Pat Mra Analysis

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    La Migra is a poem about two children a girl and a boy, who are playing a game about Mexicans crossing the American border. This poem is divided in two stanzas, because it expresses two different points of view; the girls point of view that is pretty much as the point of view an Hispanic or any immigrant would have, and the boys point of view that would be the point of view a racist border patrol or just anyone racist would have. Change in the point of view of the two children implies realism into the poem La Migra. The main point of this poem is to remind the reader about human feelings, and remind the reader about illegal immigration into the United States. Pat Mora uses Image, blank verse, and anaphora to develop her theme of immigration

    Read More

  • Tighter Border Restrictions Will Reduce Illegal Immigration

    1670 Words  | 4 Pages

    Medina, Isabel M. “At the Border: What Tres Mujeres Tells Us About Walls and Fences.” Journal of Gender, Race and Justice 10 (2007): 245-68.

    Read More

  • Immigrant Struggles: A Comparative Analysis of 'La Ciudad' and 'El Norte'

    795 Words  | 2 Pages

    Both La Ciudad (1998) and El Norte (1983) show the lives of immigrants in the United States and how they face poverty and destitution. While La Ciudad shows the perspective of various different immigrants already in the United States through vignettes, El Norte follows a brother and sister on their journey to the United States and shows what their life is like once they arrive. Both films, however, have common themes of poverty and destitution for immigrants. For instance, both films show the disappointing reality they face once they actually make it o the US. In addition, both films explore how immigrants are pressured to only looking out for themselves and how they stand up to that pressure.

    Read More

  • The Border Patrol State

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    The author is using personal experience to convey a problem to his or her audience. The audience of this piece is quite broad. First and foremost, Mexican-Americans just like the author. People who can relate to what the author has to say, maybe someone who has experienced something similar. The author also seems to be seeking out an audience of white Americans who find themselves unaware of the problem at our borders. The author even offers up a warning to white America when she notes, “White people traveling with brown people, however, can expect to be stopped on suspicion they work with the sanctuary movement”(125). The purpose of this writing is to pull out a problem that is hidden within or society, and let people see it for what it is and isn’t.

    Read More

  • The Latino Culture in America

    1081 Words  | 3 Pages

    The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).

    Read More

More about Analysis Of La Migra By Pat Mora

Open Document