Border Justicep1010263

Journey

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    I attended one of the panel discussions during the Migrants, Justice, and the 
Border week at ASU West. The discussion was very informative. Shui Ming Cheer 
spoke briefly about the children's detention center for illegal immigrants in
Florence. I was surprised to learn that children from Central America as 
young as eight attempt to cross the border alone in an effort to reunify with 
their parents who left them behind during civil wars. The young migrants, from 
countries like Guatemala, have to travel by any means possible to get first to 
Mexico which includes traveling on the top of fast moving trains. These children
risk their lives and it's a shame that they have to experience this horrible 
journey. If these undocumented children are caught in the United States, they 
are sent to detention centers. I was acquainted with these detention centers 
while reading Crossing the Boulevard. Bovic, an illegal immigrant from the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, was locked up for two years in one of these 
prison like detention centers. There should be another alternative
to treating these people as though they are dangerous criminals.
    The representative from the Phoenix Police Department also shared with us 
some startling information.  If I understood him correctly, the statistics 
show that 50% of their resources are used to deal with issues concerning 
immigration such as smuggling, kidnapping, etc. He went on to inform the
audience that in 2003, the robbery unit had 3,000 hours of overtime because of problems 
caused by illegal immigration. I think these statistics go to show that the 
immigration policy needs to be reformed. 
    The screening of the film "The Gatekeeper" was a fantastic event and I feel more people 
around the country should see the film in order to gain a greater understanding of the 
dangers associated with crossing the border. This film gives the viewer more insight 
as to what migrants from Mexico experience when crossing the border as well as some of 
difficulties they experience once they arrive in the United States. I'm glad director 
John Carlos Frey didn't change the storyline in order to accommodate Hollywood producers, 
which as he explained they pressured him to do.

 

 

 
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