Migra! Kelly Hernandez

After reading this book Hernandez helps us deeply explore the vast life of the U.S Border Patrol agency and it’s role of immigration into the United States over the twentieth century. With the Border Patrols creation in the 1920’s came with a lot of migration into the United States from Mexico, near the first decade of creation the Border Patrol was described as extremely brutal towards immigrates when apprehending them. Hernandez expresses multiple policies that the agency implemented trying to handle the growing number of migrant and immigrant populations within the United States which in time affected Hispanic citizens throughout the southwest. Hernandez thesis explains how the Border Patrol was a method of controlling the south west laborers when over time it became a racial battle that was fixed upon Hispanics. Problems arose between the United States and Mexico such as illegal trafficking of goods, people, and drugs that developed the stricter immigration laws which fixated racial discrimination upon Mexican immigrants. With the racial profiling of Mexicans in the 1940s the U.S quickly struggled with their economical workforce without Hispanic workers during the world war. Throughout the book Hernandez shows us how different groups of people such as immigrants, politicians, Border Patrol, Anglo Farmers, Mexican Americans, and Mexican/ United States government have all played a roll in the century long development of the border that has had its problems as far illegal trafficking and racial profiling.