Showdown In The Sonoran Desert Analysis

The book Showdown in the Sonoran Desert by Ananda Rose was written to bring to light the issue of morality that underlies the controversial immigration debate, particularly the issue of immigrant deaths along the desert of Mexico and the United States. Hundreds of migrants, in an attempt to cross into the United States, lose their lives in the rough environment of the desert. As American citizens, many who are of Hispanic descent are forced to support one side or the other of the controversial debate. Either we support the federal law which rejects any action supporting or aiding an illegal immigrant or we dismiss the law and aid those immigrants in need to prevent possible deaths. Most Americans when faced with such debate, will most likely
There, Rose interviews and observes the lives of those who have direct experiences with the immigration issue at the border where she gains two different perspectives. There are those who feel that everyone should be treated with compassion regardless of the circumstances and there are those whom she interviews that support the federal law of placing restrictions on strangers who want to cross the border. Although Rose does not favor one side over the other, it is clear to recognize that her compassion is with the immigrants. Rose criticizes and attacks the way in which immigration laws provoke the mass deaths of immigrants at the border and specifically argues that the border creates a human binary of acceptance from those who are included and those who are excluded. Rose’s purpose of the book is to challenge one’s own opinion and views regarding this controversial question. “My aim in these pages has not been to take sides but rather to try to approach the problem in a disinterested fashion; to try to play a bit of the devil’s advocate all around; to see the merits and flaws behind clashing philosophies”