Journal #15

I thought Ms. Silko's essay was interesting and I agreed and disagreed with her points. I agreed with the fact that they should not have been asked to step out of the car. Gus, the man she was driving with, didn't do anything sketchy or question authority, he just wanted to know what was going on. I also thought it was interesting that the dog refused to "snitch" on her because she had the medical marijuana. I also agree that people should not be detained for hours at a time at the border patrol check points for no reason. If anything they should have dogs already there in case an incident does pop up. Ms. Silko then mentions all of the cases of border patrol agents treating people terribly, even murdering, but she does not mention stories of immigrants attacking agents. I know for a fact that this happens because I have read articles of immigrants doing similar things to border patrol agents. I'm not condoning what the agents did, but I think she needs to present both sides of the story. I also disagree with her idea that the US-Mexico border is ineffective. While it has its loopholes, it is there to keep people safe. I dont doubt that there are people who purposely open up the border with blowtorches, and I think that is not only wrong but also dangerous because you don't know who you are letting in. Also, she says that white people are not flagged down at the I-25 and I-10 checkpoints. I can say for a fact that it is not true because my family and I have driven on that stretch of highway before and everyone is either required to stop, or the checkpoints are vacant and no agents are on duty in which case no one is required to stop. I personally have no problem with having checkpoints on major highways because I don't minding stopping for a few minutes, similar to security screenings at airports.