The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches from the Border

I read this book as part of a history class on North American borders. Francisco Cantú offers no solutions to address the current issues at the border. However, through José’s story at the end, the book suggests that the threat of deportation and increased border security fails to stop unauthorized immigration. Instead, these measures only endanger lives, as people resort to more dangerous routes to cross.

This memoir devotes the first two-thirds to Cantú’s trauma from working as a border security agent, revealed through his dreams. The final third focuses on the deportation of an undocumented immigrant, José, who has lived and worked in the U.S. for decades and has a wife and three children. The book concludes with a poignant portrayal of José’s determination through his voice. Despite being deported repeatedly, José promised to continue attempting to return as long as his family remained on the other side.

This book could interest you if you want direct insight from a former border security agent. However, if you are looking for answers, skip it.

Some notes:

1. Cantú learns that one cannot change an institution. The institution changes you.

2. The difference between observation and participation is a line that becomes a river.

3. Individuation: creating a dialogue between the conscious and the repressed, unconscious mind. On dealing with our inner shadows and repressed thoughts, Cantú shares Carl Jung's idea that "we have to expose ourselves to the animal impulses of the unconscious without identifying with them and without 'running away’” (165). Do not try to split off what happens in the unconscious (dreams, automatic behaviors like Freudian slips, intuition, etc); the best stance would be: “Please, come and devour me” (165).

4. Cantú shares another of Jung’s ideas: realize that I and the rest of humankind stand in humanity’s collective black shadow and accept that reality.