Summary And Comparison In 'The Devil's Highway'

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In Chapter 4, Heyman discusses the narrow view of the virtual wall, advanced technology and surveillance used to protect the border. Urrea (2004) illustrates this point, in Chapter 1 of The Devil’s Highway. He describes the Welton Police Station, the building is deteriorating, but on the inside, sits a “high tech command center." The computer system connected to the GPS satellites operates 24 hours, 7 days a week. The reader is able to gauge a picture of the building, technology and how the virtual wall develops. Another item to note, is that although the building is not in the best condition, the top priority of the agency is to stay on top of the latest technology. Later in the same chapter, Urrea (2001) describes the virtual wall broader, …show more content…
Urea provides an illustration of the operations and refers to them as "coyotes." The story begins with Don Moi, a fixer for the shadowy Coyotes of Sonora referred to as the Robinhood of his local town. The business starts with reeling young men to cross the border and apply for a loan from a loan shark connected to Don Moi. Don Moi and his associate were a satellite to the organization because the network was larger including setting up jobs across the border. Unfortunately, often the human smugglers demanded more money from the walker and held their family members over their heads. However, in Chapter 3, Urrea explains that due to the advanced technology and new walls created, individuals need Coyotes more than ever. Thus, the business of human smuggling has become even more lucrative. Thus, the harsher legislations have created more business for illegal entities. Urrea says, “in the new organized crime, hierarchies of human smuggling the actual Coyotes are middle-management thugs. Asking questions about human smugglers, is dangerous. For example, individuals were unable to ask any questions about the catastrophe because it elicited three different warnings about being “shot in the head” (p. 60). Urrea explains the days of the “Chicano” heading home to the barrio after “hitting the bars” is extinct because these large organizations are taking over the market and if anyone gets in their way they will not hesitate to tie someone to put a .9mm luger in their brain" (p. 60). In short, the operations such as Operation Gatekeeper, left people with little choice but to request assistance from Coyotes, because they were the only ones that had the ability to keep up with the latest technology, routes, etc. Spener (2004) adds “as the United States has intensified surveillance of its southern border with Mexico, unauthorized migrants have become increasingly

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