'Crossing Arizona' Reflection

Crossing Arizona Reflection

The film, Crossing Arizona, provides insight on different Americans’ opinions about illegal immigration. Some Americans are in favor of helping the Mexicans cross the United States border. For example, Humane Borders and other human rights activists work along the U.S. - Mexico border to provide water and food for those crossing. The film also follows other Americans who disagree with illegal immigration. Chris Simcox and the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps are citizen patrol groups that guard the border with their own weapons because they feel that the government isn’t doing enough and immigrants are destroying the nation. Ranchers living along the U.S. Mexico border also do not like the Mexican immigrants because they leave trash on their land and ruin their fences, which have negative effects on their livestock.

It was interesting to see the importance of the immigrant workers for the farmers in Arizona. One farmer was quoted as saying that losing the workers for one day would be very detrimental to their profits. The immigrants said on video "Gringos don't want this job". Without immigrants crossing the border into the United States and taking these jobs than it would also affect our economy because Americans do not have interest in working in farms picking vegetables however, those coming into the country will take whatever job they can get. During the 2004 elections, an important topic of issue was immigration. George Bush said that border security was a high issue during a debate and that there needed to be changes on improving border control. Around this time, Proposition 200 was released with opponents calling it "anti-immigrant". Many people of Mexican background were seen trying to sway the vote of locals to "vote no". It was sad to see the rejection that the one woman received from the American woman because she was not born in the United States.

I thought that one of the most important insights that this film provided was...