Alberto Urrea is suggesting that neither of the governments are putting enough effort to change border policy, American more so than Mexican. Also, he is trying to explain how status quo might be viewed as beneficial for both sides to some extend. However, by changing the border policy, Urrea thinks that it would solve more than just border issues. It would improve economy of both countries, American in specific.
Alberto Urrea is guiding us trough the tragic story of 26 people on their quest for better life. The main concern of this book is, obviously, more than just that. Their quest is a story within the story of a larger proportion, complexity and importance, the border policy. In his book, Urrea is presenting all the pieces of the puzzle that create the big picture, from bottom to the top, and therefor making it more complex. He is talking about governments, Border patrol, criminals ,and people that are trying to cross the border. The emphasis is on the last ones in the chain, the walkers, as they are a direct victims of the story. The group of people in the story is no different than any other group that tried to cross border before, nor the group that is trying to cross the border tonight as I write this. Big difference is the outcome of their journey, and the influence it had on the attempt to change border policy issues. Death of these people just opened the eyes to remaining few people unaware of the current issues and stupidity of border policy.
The outcome is a direct result of border policy. Since 14 people died in this tragic event, it attracted massive media coverage and engaged both governments in seek for at least a temporary solution for this ongoing problem. “The media only cares about Yuma 14 because of the large numbers. But this tragedy goes on every day. It never stops. If only one person dies out there, it is exactly the same horror story” (207). And shortly after this event they showed some willingness to