Mora’s “La Migra” and Olivarez’s “poem where no one is deported” have many things in common but have their uniqueness. In “La Migra” tells the perspectives between Mexicans and the border patrol. How each side has advantages and disadvantages, and the discrimination Mexicans must face. In “poem where no one is deported” tells a similar story, yet one of fortunate findings. Though people must avoid being found by la migra, the workers heard of what is to come and were not found. These stories show many similarities yet many differences such as the tone, metaphor/simile, and theme.
Theme: Trials and Tribulations
In Both “La Migra” and “poem where no one is deported”, they both share a similar theme; the trials and tribulations of Mexican immigrants. “so when the immigration officers arrived they found boxes of socks & all the women absent. safe at home. those officers thought no one was working.” (Olivarez 13) This shows how much work it took to evade the immigration officers and continue living in the United States. Though they can evade effectively, they had to worry about this in the first place, adding a large struggle on top of what already is a hard life. However, “La Migra”, “You can hide and run, but you can’t get away…” This quote shows the hardships immigrants have to face and sadly how normalized it has become to live with these harsh conditions.
“Then there are the men and women and children behind glass windows, and the doors marked holding cell. Some wear face masks, and one man holds a sign that reads Help.” This quote relates to the theme of the story since the poem talks about how harshly people are being treated and also how unfairly.
Symbolism
In “La Migra” and “poem where no one is deported”, both have symbolism. The figurative language used in these poems is to convey a deeper message to the reader. In Mora’s poem, it states “I’ll be Border Patrol. You be the Mexican maid” (Mora 1) This represents a serious issue as a children’s game, it seems to desensitize themselves to everything they have to go through. In Olivarez poem, “this god was the god that woke me up at 7am every day for school to let me know there was food in the fridge for me & my brothers.” (Olivarez 22) This represents the hope they had that they could stay living in the United States as long as immigration didn’t catch them.
Tone: Negative VS. Hopeful
In “La Migra” and “poem where no one is deported”, each has its underlying tones. “La Migra” has a disturbed tone as it tells a story of Mexicans being mistreated. “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. Oh, and a gun” (Mora 1) Mexicans are being dehumanized by border patrol because the officers think they can do anything to immigrants since they don’t know the laws here. “poem where no one is deported” has a hopeful tone as border patrol is unable to find, deport, and separate these families. “i never asked my mom where the food came from, but she told me anyway: gracias a dios. gracias a dios del chisme, who heard all la migra’s plans & whispered them into the right ears to keep our families safe.” (Olivarez 25) These people were grateful for whatever protected them from being found.
“…make it a state crime for migrants to enter the state anywhere but a port of entry, create a mandatory 10-year minimum sentence for human smugglers, and devote $100 million for new detention centers, courts, security and economic development projects for border communities.” This quote from el paso matters connects to the story by showing how harsh life is for immigrants already and how it is only going to get harder. The tone that the poem has is happy and joyous since the raids failed, it shows how these little victories for immigrants will be less likely because of the new laws being implemented.
