A Risk Worth Taking

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To be able to read a book such as La Linea and gain a better and realistic understanding of the illegal immigration into the United States and the difficulties of the risky journey that people who do decide to travel face. Miguel and his sister undertake a journey to be reunited with their parents. With understanding that the journey was going to be dangerous and risky, the young children and the help of Javier, experience robbing, escaping the police, and many other things. What I have gained from this novel is a better understanding. To be clearer, I strongly feel that the immigration system is extremely wrongfully judged because of some people’s words and actions towards the situation. 

I have heard many opinions when it comes to illegal immigrants entering the United States and their reasoning behind it. Ones such as they are criminals coming to destroy the US, or they are trying to cheat their way into the system. Even things such as they don’t belong here, it is our state. Of course, I do believe that these are horrible accusations of people trying to enter the US and I feel like if people where able to read this novel, they would be able to gain respect and a better understanding for the ones that are coming to respectful reasons. Things like children trying to be reunited with their parents, people trying to find a better life, fathers trying to help provide for their families all because the life they might live (depending on where they live) is very difficult to survive or the area they live in is very dangerous and this book gives all the viewpoints I feel helps better explain and help people to understand their situation.

One last thing I would like to take note of is how brave Miguel and his sister were to be able to take this dangerous journey alone just to be reunited with there parents. Not only Miguel and his sister but in the novel, it tells that most of the people taking the journey are only children, with a lot of them not surviving. The bravery and that fact that these kids are technically forced to grow up is truly empowering but also heart breaking. I would highly encourage everyone to read the book because a lot of the times, we are so quick to judge a situation before we are able to better understand a situation.


 

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