La Migra

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1995

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Themes

The Cat-and-Mouse Game: Wits against Power

The conflict between the Border Patrol agent and the Mexican woman in “La Migra” is framed as a kind of cat-and-mouse game, involving constant pursuit in which the cat (Border Patrol) is bigger and stronger, yet the mouse (border crosser) manages to outwit the cat and escape. Each part of the poem begins with an invitation to play the game: “Let’s play La Migra” (Lines 1, 19). In the first part, “the Border Patrol” (Line 2) extends the invitation with an arrogant assurance that he can easily overpower the Mexican migrant because of his access to legal authority, symbolized by “the badge” (Line 4), speed enabled by the “jeep” (Line 7), and the lethal power of the “gun” (Line 17). The agent’s final words evoke the start of a race: “Get ready, get set, run” (Line 18). Sometimes a gun firing into the air marks the beginning of a race, but the Border Patrol agent’s gun might instead aim at the person running. In the poem’s second part, the migrant woman’s invitation to play is equally confident, but in this case the confidence is not based on tools and symbols of overwhelming power. In contrast, she relies on her familiarity with the desert (Line 27) and the solidarity between migrants: “Oh, I am not alone. / You hear us singing” (Lines 30-31). Like insurgents resisting an occupying force, border crossers use knowledge of the terrain and secret support networks to their advantage. They are weaker than Border Patrol but more cunning and determined. For them, like for the mouse desperately escaping the cat’s claws, the game is a matter of survival.

The Abusiveness of Arbitrary Power

Power becomes arbitrary when it exceeds its legitimate purpose and becomes an unrestrained imposition of one’s will and strength over someone weaker or in a subordinate position. Sometimes people who have power by virtue of representing a government agency, such as the Border Patrol, misuse it to assert their personal domination over others. Thus, they abuse their official authority to satisfy their private domineering and aggressive urges. Some United States Border Patrol agents, like some police officers and soldiers in combat zones, have been accused of failing to use their power fairly and responsibly. Whether such examples represent the actions of “a few bad apples” or systemic erosion of the codes of ethics and conduct is open to debate. Mora’s poem describes the Border Patrol, whether understood as an individual agent or the agency as a collective, threatening to exercise arbitrary power: “I can take you wherever / I want” (Lines 8-9). He can arrest border crossers who do not possess appropriate documents and keep them captive, often for a very long time because of the judicial backlog of immigration cases. The statement “don’t ask / questions because / I don’t speak Spanish” (Lines 9-11) suggests not only that the Border Patrol rejects the responsibility to learn the immigrants’ language but also that they are not interested in communication at all. They are interested in exerting power, which, in this case, includes male sexual violence against women: “I can touch you wherever / I want but don’t complain / too much because I’ve got / boots and kick” (Lines 12-15). The threat of sexual assault and the threat of retribution for complaining clearly far exceed any legal authority. The first part of “La Migra” depicts the Border Patrol as a bully licking his chops in anticipation of victimizing a weaker person.

Resilience in the Face of Threat

The second part of “La Migra” reveals that steady resilience is the border crossers’ response to the Border Patrol’s exercise of arbitrary power. The “Mexican woman” (Line 21), who represents all border crossers, realizes that the Border Patrol’s very instruments of power could become unreliable or cumbersome: “Your jeep has a flat” (Line 22) and “[a]ll you have is heavy: hat, / glasses, badge, shoes, gun” (Lines 25-26). The agent’s equipment slows him down and makes him more vulnerable to the effects of the heat: “[Y]ou have been spotted / by the sun” (Lines 23-24). On the other hand, border crossers travel light and “know this desert” (Line 27). They can find places “to rest” (Line 28) and “to drink” (Line 29). They are “not alone” (Line 30) and can rely on the solidarity and assistance of other migrants and those who are sympathetic to their plight. They also have the advantage of speaking the language that their adversary cannot follow: “[S]ince you / can’t speak Spanish, / you do not understand” (Lines 34-36). The Border Patrol’s arrogance, reflected in his refusal to speak Spanish (Lines 9-11), renders him less capable of matching migrants’ ability to evade their pursuers, regroup, and make another run for freedom. The migrants’ patience, courage, determination—and even desperation—all contribute to the resilience needed for holding out against the Border Patrol’s overwhelming and sometimes arbitrary power.