Summary: Part III

Part III begins with a vignette that describes Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s (1875–1961) thoughts on the political situation of the late 20th century, in particular his concept of “the mass state” and how “atomization” could be combatted with “individuation” therapy. Francisco also reflects on his mother’s complicated past feelings about her Mexican heritage. When Francisco’s mother was younger, his grandmother blamed his mother’s bad traits on her Mexican ancestry while crediting her good traits to her German and Irish heritage. A disappointing first meeting with her absent father only worsened her connection to her Mexican side. Eventually, she came to appreciate her Mexican roots after befriending a Mexican man in the park service who taught her to be proud. When Francisco was born, she tried to teach him to honor his heritage and appreciate the special significance of the border.

After leaving the Border Patrol, Francisco gets a new job at a coffee shop in a shopping center modeled after an old Spanish mercado. Here, he has a coworker named José who befriends him over shared breakfast burritos. José is a maintenance person, described as “strong and clean-shaven.” He speaks to Francisco in Spanish, and while José knows Francisco used to be in the Border Patrol, Francisco also recognizes signs that José crossed the border. As time goes on, they get closer and discuss personal matters along with politics.

One day José doesn’t come to work, and Francisco’s boss, Diane, tells him José had to return to Mexico to take care of his mother. Weeks later, when José still hasn’t returned, Francisco learns José is stuck in Mexico and intends to cross the border illegally. Francisco wants to warn him not to cross in the summer but has no way of contacting him. When he tries to contact José’s family, he discovers from José’s wife, Lupe, that José has been apprehended at the border.

Francisco calls his old partner Morales, who is still working for the Border Patrol. Morales tells him where José’s “Streamline” hearing (hearing where processes have been simplified to increase efficiency) will be. Francisco accompanies Lupe and her children, including Diego, to the hearing, where José is one of many migrants being sentenced. The migrants are pleading guilty to illegal crossing to receive more lenient sentences from the judge. José looks very different with his hair and beard grown out, and his children barely recognize him in the lineup. The men in the courtroom look more defeated than the migrants Francisco used to catch at the border, as if “something vital” in them has been stamped out. When Francisco speaks with José’s public defender, the lawyer speaks against the Border Patrol and says they objectify the migrants, singling out Morales as a callous person.

Thanks to the help of Diane and the congregation of his church, José is able to hire an accomplished immigration lawyer, Elizabeth Green. Elizabeth meets with Francisco and Lupe and is honest about the difficulty of José’s case. Although José has good character and the support of his family, his past records of being caught at the border work against him. Elizabeth says even in the best case, José will never be granted citizenship.

Because Lupe is also undocumented, she can’t visit José at the prison where he’s being held. Francisco helps her, possibly out of a desire for “redemption”. He agrees to drive Diego to the remote prison, but they’re unable to see José because of a riot in the prison. The next time, Francisco goes with Diego and his younger brother José Junior. This time they do meet José, who speaks with his boys before speaking to Francisco. Later, as the decision looms for José’s fate, Elizabeth is impressed by how many letters are written in support of José to the judge. Despite the support, José’s case is rejected, and he is deported on the same day Diego suffers an injury while playing soccer.

Francisco keeps in touch with Lupe after the deportation and tries to help her as she raises her children alone. He learns from her that José is trying to get back across the border. Lupe tells him that José tried to hire coyotes to smuggle him, but they only stole his money and threatened him and Lupe. Francisco sees his mother at Christmas and finally confides to her. She helps him process his grief over José’s deportation. Francisco admits he feels like even after leaving the Border Patrol he’s still part of “a thing that crushes”. His mother tells him a story about a sad memory when she was a young park ranger with a dead squirrel she tried to save. In the end, she had to kill the squirrel to put it out of its misery in the same brutal way she’d watched her boss kill other squirrels.

In the last section, the narration shifts from Francisco’s voice to José’s. Francisco visits José in Mexico, where José declares he will never stop trying to get back to America and his family. He even considers becoming a “mule” (drug smuggler) for a cartel if it will help him cross the border. He says that the United States is making criminals out of people who could be good citizens by denying them entry but that he still loves America.

Analysis: Part III

Part III uses Carl Jung’s idea of individuation to frame Francisco’s recovery from his time in the Border Patrol. Individuation, for Jung, involved achieving “self-actualization” by integrating the conscious and unconscious mind. For Francisco, this means acknowledging what his dreams have been telling him and being honest with his mother, who knows he has been hiding something but respects his privacy. José’s hardships, meanwhile, give Francisco a new perspective on the suffering of migrants: having gotten to know a migrant personally, he’s “no longer severed from what it means to send someone back across the border.” Francisco also comes to understand better, through José, why the migrants are willing to risk their lives to cross the border.

In recalling her failed effort to save the squirrel, Francisco’s mother shows how institutions corrupt people. Her well-intentioned act only worsened its suffering, just as Francisco’s attempts to help people on the border were often counterproductive. In saying he is part of something that “crushes,” Francisco acknowledges partial responsibility for José’s suffering simply by being a US citizen. When talking to José’s public defender, Francisco hides his past as a Border Patrol agent, ashamed of his involvement in an institution that dehumanizes people like José.

The final section, written in José’s voice, is a manifesto for a desperate and determined migrant. Perhaps surprisingly, José praises the American government, which he deems “more organized” and “respected” than that of Mexico. He does, however, criticize the US immigration system for its practice of family separation through deportation. José claims this policy assumes families will return to Mexico when, in fact, people like José will keep trying to cross the border until they succeed or die. Thus, he says, the US government forces honest people to break the law to be with their families.