The Wind Doesn\'t Need a Passport Reflection PDF

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Ijahala Pottinger 28 December 2019 ETHN1750U: The U.S.-Mexico Border and Borderlands Tyche Hendricks, The Wind Doesn’t Need a Passport Reflection

The Wind Doesn't Need a Passport is a collection of stories gathered from Hendricks’ experiences at the border as a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. While Hendricks went to the border to cover undocumented immigration, she spent time getting to know people whose lives were defined in large part by their proximity to the border. These people ranged from undocumented border-crossers to Border Patrol agents. Although their stories are unique and varied, border residents are united by the cultural, economic, environmental, and familial ties that combine the two sides of the border into a binational region. Reading the ways that the activities of the U.S.-Mexico border reaches both countries allowed me to conceptualize the border not just as a line of demarcation, but also as a common ground between border residents and the two countries more broadly. Like most Americans, it is difficult for me to conceptualize what the U.S.-Mexico border looks like, or how it functions. As Hendricks claims, most Americans view the border as a line on a map that creates a stark chasm between two vastly different countries, one developed and one undeveloped. Instead, the border is mountain, desert, ranchland, river, sprawling cities, and remote villages. Hendricks argues that because each side of the border is so heavily influenced by the other side, border culture sets the region apart from other parts of either country. After reading these stories, I have come to imagine the border as a complex region that facilitates the flow of commerce, culture, natural resources, disease, workers, and students every day. Each of these stories highlight the complexity of the border by demonstrating how people and communities along the border effect and are affected by particular issues. In the chapter on Tijuana, Hendricks exposes the present-day effects of the borderland’s long history of drug smuggling. Along the border, especially in Tijuana, the drug trade fuels not only drug abuse, but also murder, extortion,

Ijahala Pottinger 28 December 2019 ETHN1750U: The U.S.-Mexico Border and Borderlands Tyche Hendricks, The Wind Doesn’t Need a Passport Reflection kidnapping, and even corruption in law enforcement. The daily violence witnessed by border residents, from homicide to torture, has caused profound psychological damage as well as harmful impacts on Mexican society. While drug smuggling across the U.S.-Mexico border has caused a wealth of problems in both countries, contraband has not only moved from south to north. To avoid Mexico’s high import tariffs, smugglers have illegally transported everything from cars to fruit into Mexican territory. Notably, guns and ammunition (which have tight restrictions in Mexico) are often smuggled from Texas and Arizona into the hands of Mexican drug cartels. This increases the danger associated with the illegal drug trade. From the narratives of the border residents affected by the illicit drug trade, it is clear that the United States and Mexico share the responsibility for drug trafficking. The high demand for drugs in the United States makes the Mexican drug trade an appealing, though risky business. Like the environmental concerns outlined in the chapter on Mexicali, the illicit drug trade paints the border not as a dividing line, but as a meeting point marked by constant cultural exchange and international commerce. In Mexicali, a growing energy network of power lines and natural gas pipes that connect the U.S. and Mexico compromise the environmental integrity of both countries. Similarly, the cross-border flow of drugs and other illegal contraband destroy the lives of Americans and Mexicans alike. In understanding the challenges and conflict these issues cause for the two countries, it is impossible to view the border as a mere separation line. Tied by a common border culture, the United States and Mexico suffer similar burdens at the hands of the environment, trade, and other issues. As Hendricks argues, the solution to overcome such challenges depends on the two governments overcoming a cycle of mistrust....