Brutality of the Border: Separating Families

One of the most devastating potential consequences of crossing the border is the way it tears apart families. In The Guardians, Gabo’s father, Rafa, travels across the border with the help of coyotes. When he disappears, Gabo and Regina experience a tremendous uncertainty and sadness. Regina attempts to act as Gabo’s mother because she is the only remaining relative he has. They search for Rafa through phone calls, home visits, Grupo Beta, friendships with gang members, trips across the border, and dangerous stakeouts. When Rafa’s body is eventually found, Regina is relieved that “the worst part was over, the not knowing, the fearing that something horrible was happening or may have happened to mi hermanito” (207). The uncertainty disappears when Regina gives up all hope that her brother is alive. The precarious journey across the border separates Regina and Gabo from Rafa forever.

The Devil’s Highway also tells the story of loss and separation. In his creative nonfiction piece, Urrea describes a group of men who brave the border with hopes of working hard in the United States to provide an improved life for their families. The Yuma 14 are unaware that they would never say goodbye. One of the men, twenty-five year old Mario Castillo, has a wife and two children. He dreams of providing for his family by “building them a house and breaking away somewhat from his parents’ help” (146). Another young man, Julian Ambros Malaga, was recently married and is expecting a child. He is planning to make money to build cement walls for his mother’s house. His strong connection with his family is evident in his desire to fortify the house of his parents and his promises to his father to “always behave with respect” (148). He was unaware that the Desolation would take away his dreams, his chance to be a father, and his life. 

In both of these books, the division of families emerges from the desire for a better life. Gabo is separated from his father because Regina convinces him to allow Gabo to receive an education in the United States. Castillo and Malaga are separated because they choose to make a better life for their families. Each individual has dreams that focus on bettering the lives of their family members. The border crushes these dreams through its danger and desolation. An immigration worker from La Casa told me numerous stories of undocumented immigrants in Goshen who wish to become documented, but the only option they have is to leave their family for many years and return to their country of origin. This will still only give them the possibility of perhaps receiving documents in the future. Is receiving documents worth the pain of separating from loved ones for years? It is also dangerous for many immigrants to cross back into Mexico today because of the violence at the border. Unfortunately, the border continues to be a wall of despair and death that separates millions of families.