The Line Becomes a River Discussion Questions

In what ways do borders correspond with power in The Line Becomes a River?

The border can represent both power and powerlessness. The border between the United States and Mexico is a reminder of the American victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American War. In modern times, patrolling it with large numbers of Border Patrol agents represents the power and authority of the US government. However, despite all the US government’s efforts, people continue to find ways across the border. For the members of the Border Patrol, the border represents a mandate and a mission; for the migrants who desire to cross the border, it represents the hope of a better future, as well as an obstacle to that hope. In The Line Becomes a River, Francisco arrests many migrants who have already made their way across the border. Once they are apprehended, they are taken into custody. Francisco observes the effects of this custody and sees how it crushes the migrants’ spirits. In this sense the border is a threshold beyond which the migrants—if they’re caught—fall under the power of the US Border Patrol and criminal justice system.

One interesting perspective in the memoir is that of José, a migrant who experiences the aforementioned power of the justice system firsthand. In his eyes, the border represents a line between two systems: the Mexican system, where corruption runs rampant, and the US system, which is more powerful and organized but not without serious flaws. José perceives that, for all its power, the US system fails to accomplish its goal: instead of being deterred through deportation, he says, those deported are only more motivated than ever to try crossing again. Thus, the power of the Border Patrol is somewhat illusory, as for all its efforts it only forces migrants to adopt riskier and more dangerous strategies, such as when José hires coyotes to smuggle him. However, when he is at his hearing, he says he “could feel the power [the US government] held over us.” While the government may not be able to stop people from crossing the border, it can still create misery for those it catches afterward.

What do nature, geology, and animals represent in The Line Becomes a River?

Nature, geology, and animals are frequently mentioned in Cantú’s memoir and serve different purposes. Francisco often finds himself calmed or reassured by the presence of nature and feels a “familiar sense of freedom” and “closeness” with the desert. Due to his mother’s past as a park ranger, he has learned to share her love of the natural world. Geology in the form of natural features (mountains, rock formations, rivers) shows how the world is much more ancient than human borders. Unlike lines drawn on maps by politicians and leaders, mountains are physical objects that do not quickly change. The rock formations migrants must negotiate are many thousands of years older than the imaginary lines they attempt to cross. The historical sources referenced in the memoir concerning the creation of the US-Mexico border discuss how difficult marking the border was due to the rugged terrain. While these sources describe the region as “desolate,” Francisco sees beauty in the landscape.

Although the desert is commonly thought of as a wasteland, Francisco’s narrative shows how the border region teems with diverse animal life. Animals in The Line Becomes a River are often used to reflect or articulate Francisco’s inner conflict. One example is the antelope who stumbles onto him and his colleagues. Francisco imagines the antelope perceiving him as a “misfit ghost,” reflecting his feeling that he does not belong on the border. There is also a prairie falcon that he imagines accusing him of cowardice because of his transfer from fieldwork to Sector Intel. Francisco’s mother also tells him an important story from her past involving a ground squirrel that she tried to save but ended up having to kill. The squirrel’s unnecessarily cruel death represents both the victimizing power of institutional violence and the way in which such violence is passed on through repetition and observation.

What are the “line” and the “river” in The Line Becomes a River, and what does it mean for the line to become the river? 

Literally, the title of The Line Becomes a River describes two different sections of the US-Mexico border; figuratively, it refers to two distinct ways of thinking about borders. In the western sections, including the Arizona border where Francisco worked as a field agent, the land is arid. In those regions, the land on either side is indistinguishable; other than some fences, the border is an imaginary line drawn on official maps. This is where the “line” in the title comes from, representing the artificiality of such a border dividing humans from each other.

On the other hand, the Texas-Mexico portion of the border is coterminous with the Rio Grande. In West Texas, where the book’s final pages are set, Francisco finds a place where the imaginary/official border and the physical river are one and the same. In this place, people who live in Mexico casually cross the river both ways without any interference or fear of punishment by the US authorities. This further highlights the artificiality of the border. The title is also a reminder that even an imaginary boundary (line) can become a physical and very real obstacle (a river) and that like crossing a river, it can be a dangerous ordeal. 

Why, according to Cantú, has violence become an inherent feature of the US-Mexico border?

Throughout The Line Becomes a River, the author interweaves passages from historical texts and scholarly studies about the violence along the border and the related violence inside Mexico. Many of these scholarly sources focus on the origins of the border in violent struggle in the form of the Mexican-American War. After the war, land that was once Mexico became territory of the United States, and consequently these lands have always been home to Mexicans and Mexican Americans. In the personal-memoir portion of the book, José’s story shows how the desire of impoverished people to immigrate to the United States, combined with the United States’ harsh policing of the border, can create opportunities for criminals. Unable to guide themselves across the border, honest migrants like José are forced to make deals with human smugglers known as coyotesor become “mules” for the drug cartels.

At several points in the memoir, the election of Felipe Calderón (born 1962) is mentioned as preceding the sharp escalation of violence in Mexico after 2006. Calderón was elected president of Mexico and promised to fight corruption and destroy the drug cartels. However, the war against the cartels failed to destroy them and instead only led to greater violence as the cartels struggled both against each other and against the government. José criticizes the Mexican government for being corrupt and incapable of protecting and taking care of its people. Ultimately, he suggests, money is the source of this corruption as well as the violence; as long as the cartels can make money from smuggling drugs and people across the border, the violence there will continue.

What is the social and emotional impact of deportation as shown in The Line Becomes a River?

The Line Becomes a River shows through José’s tragic story how deportation tears families apart. On a social level, deportation divides families: José is deported, but his wife and children remain in America. His children, natural-born American citizens, speak Spanish but would not have been happy in Mexico because they have only ever known the United States. Losing their father is a great hardship to Diego and José’s other children, and when Diego injures himself playing soccer, José is not there to take care of him. José’s wife, Lupe, is also forced to take on extra work to support the children. Despite this, she is still reluctant to accept charity from others, even when she becomes too ill to work. Meanwhile, José is driven to desperation and risks death or a lengthy prison sentence in repeated failed attempts to cross the border. José argues that rather than deterring people like him from crossing again or forcing their families to join them in Mexico, deportation only motivated him to try again.

Francisco sees both ends of the deportation process, first by being one of the agents who arrests migrants at the border. These migrants are still invigorated by the journey of their crossing. Later, while attending José’s Streamline hearing, he sees migrants who have been detained for a while. In these people, “something vital” has gone missing or been “stamped out” of them, and what is left is a hopeless, miserable shell. José’s ordeal is so taxing that his own family barely recognizes him in the lineup. He later comments that, during his day in court, he feels as if the US government is tearing his family apart; even so, he does not feel “hate” for the American government but “sadness.”