Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway" 82

Quote: " Those Migra guys made Jesus crazy. The Mexican Migra agents were the worst. Turncoats. Traitors. They hunted down their own people, and they were meaner to the illegals than the gringo Migras"

Reflections: This is a negative connotation for the Border patrol or "La Migra" shown from the coyotes point of view. The negativity is demonstrated through the use of words such as "Turncoats" "Traitors" and "hunted" to describe the wickedness of the migra especially the mexican agents.

Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway." 74

Quote: "The Migra had the desert sector near town shut down tight. They had been adapting the El Paso formula: big new fences, some kind of human radar, night vision, and more cops. The bastards parked their trucks in a line, each truck in site of the next, and they just sat there."

Reflections: This description of La Migra gives the impression that they are callous hunters who wait for those searching for a better life and turn them away without a second thought. "Big new fences," "more cops," "shut down tight," and "bastards" suggests a feeling of intimidation felt by the coyotes and the migrants.

Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway" 83

Quote: "He accepted water and nodded and grinned and said "Si, senor" when addressed, as if he respected the Migra."

Reflections: In this quote, the word "Migra" is used in a negative connotation. The character, Jesus, pretends to show respect to La Migra by addressing him as "senor", but his face expression of grinning shows his true intention of disrespect. La Migra is shown as an authoritarian figure, but in a negative way.

Source: Murphy, Brian T. "Miscellaneous Poems and Texts." 28 Sep 2007 <http://www.brian-t-murphy.com/Miscellaneous.htm#Mora>.

Quote:

"Let's play La Migra

I'll be the Border Patrol.

You be the Mexican maid.

I get the badge and sunglasses.

You can hide and run,

but you can't get away

because I have a jeep.

I can take you wherever

I want, but don't ask

questions because

I don't speak Spanish.

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.

Get ready, get set, run."

Reflections: I was looking for some articles to read about immigration and I encountered this poem and I really liked it. I think that most of what the author is saying is right. I have never been on the shoes of a Border Patrol officer, but I am sure that that is what they are thinking… Based on all the video clips and a reality show I saw the other day. I felt that Border Patrol officers think this way about people who cross over.

Source:Urrea, Luis Alberto

Quote:"Eighty percent of lost walkers can still be saved if the Migra spots them...But if the Migra doesn't find you, you've stepped onto the lip of the death spiral."

Reflections:Throughout the book, we see the Migra viewed as the enemy, but in this passage they become the deciding factor of life or death. The immigrants that cannot make it across wish for the Migra to hopefully see them and pick them up. The Migra is viewed differently and no longer has the negative connotation they have always had.

Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway" 107

Quote: The Surest way to beat La Migra was to keep the high country.

Reflections: This sentence by Mendez shows the reader just how feared Boarder Patrol was to those crossing. By picking the roughest terrains, they hoped nobody else would be stupid enough to endanger their lives to follow them.

Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway" 82

Quote: "The Tucson Migra had this evil trick they'd pull."

Reflections: This sentence states that the Migra would pull tricks on the immigrants and abuse their authority. The paragraph this sentence is in explains a trick the Tucson Migra did and how the immigrants were afraid of it and how it hurt. This scene creates a bad image for the Migra and shows the reader that not all the Border Patrols are doing their job fairly.

Source:Urrea, Luis Alberto. "The Devil's Highway" 164

Quote:No airplane veered toward them. No helicopter came. No Migra.

Reflections:The walkers knew that they would die if they did not get help. They started fire, but nobody came and rescued them. The sentences explain how desperate the walkers were. This could have been the last attempt to ask for help as their coyote, Mendez already abandoned them. Also, I thought it was significant that they were actually trying to get help from Migra which means they were trying to be rescued by the US government.

Source: Urrea, Luis Alberto. "the Devils Highway" 200

Quote: "What if the same evil Migra agents who recklessly precipitated the tragedy had also been the ones who aprehended the guys heading home?"

Reflections: Tnis sentences gives a bad reputation to La migra, it sends the message that some of them are not doing their job. By reading this sentence the reader can infer that La migra can sometimes treat the illegals inhumanely and lead to tragedy. In one way or another it blames them for certain deaths along the border.

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