Trauma and "Sanctioned" Violence

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    I think La Linea is one of the most eye-opening books we've read this semester. And I also think it is the best book out of what we have read that serves as a 'window' into the life of another person. There is so much in this book that we could talk about, but I want to focus on the violence Miguel and Elena witnessed close to the border, as well as what has been happening in recent week/months.
    I think the most severe instance of violence Miguel and Elena witness is on pages 102 and 103, after Moisés has left them and a moment later they hear a gunshot. We aren't sure what to make of this, until a few lines later when we see Moisés "held one hand to his right shoulder where blood oozed from a wound" (Jaramillo 103). And we see in earlier lines that he has been shot by the men in a vehicle that has "An oversized United States" flying from the antenna (103). From this I think we can infer that the men who shot and captured Moisés were not official border agents. I'm not an expert, but I don't think border agents would have an oversized flag flying from the car. Now, Jaramillo may have intended for these men to be agents, and included the flag as a plot device to help readers understand that Moisés was captured by Americans, but I think it more likely that the men were members of the militia that Moisés warned Miguel and Elena about earlier. If that is the case, then I think it raises the question as to whether or not the border agents and/or other government employees in the area are aware that there are men shooting and capturing immigrants outside of the law, and whether or not they are doing anything to stop/deter them from doing this? Even if they are aware, and in the past have made efforts to stop people from doing this, it goes to show that the border is not as secure as many people would like, if it falls to a local militia to "protect" the area. It almost makes it seem like an an anarchist area. Again, Jaramillo may have intended for them to be border agents, but I still think looking at this scene from a different angle could lead to interesting and important conversations in the classroom.
    Now, another thing I want to talk about is the events that have occurred in detention camps for illegal immigrants in the recent months/weeks in the US, but also something that was mentioned earlier in the book. At the beginning of Chapter 8, Señor Gonzales says that someone was "kidnapped up north, right on the border...They druggeed him, and when he woke up, he had a row of stitches in his stomach...They took out his kidneys and sold them" (Jaramillo 25). A little later in the chapter we learn that a woman had her baby stolen from her, as well as her "female organs" and they were then sold to a "barren woman in Saudi Arabia" (26). La Linea was published in 2006—fourteen years ago—and yet it bares a striking similarity to events that are happening in the world now. In China, there are reports that the government has been accused of "harvesting human organs" from Uighur Muslims, and other "persecuted religious and ethnic minorities" (Martin). And, there have also been reports that migrant women in US border camps have had hysterectomies performed on them without their consent (CBS News). Despite the fact that Jaramillo's book is fiction, it is also a product of extensive research. Jaramillo obviously learned of operations like the ones she mentioned in her book, and just like in the past, those operations are continuing now—some are even being sanctioned by governments.
~~~
Sources:

CBS News. “Mexico Asks U.S. to ‘Clarify’ Alleged Hysterectomies on Migrant Women in ICE Custody.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 29 Sept. 2020, www.cbsnews.com/news/mexico-asks-us-to-clarify-alleged-hysterectomies-on-migrant-women-in-ice-custody/. 

Jaramillo, Ann. La Linea. Square Fish, 2006.

Martin, Will. China Is Harvesting Thousands of Human Organs from Its Uighur Muslim Minority, UN Human-Rights Body Hears. 25 Sept. 2019, www.businessinsider.com/china-harvesting-organs-of-uighur-muslims-china-tribunal-tells-un-2019-9. 

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