Who are the Real Immigrants?

The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle is full of great metaphors. This is a book that concentrates on the lives of two families. Delaney and Kyra are two liberals that live in a gated community while Candido and America are two immigrants that live day by day with no financial security. One day, Delaney was distracted and ran over Candido and their worlds just began to collide. Delaney began to think outside of his comfort zone and Candido had to learn how to depend on his wife for a while. I enjoy reading this book because it speaks about the problems that there are about the whole immigration injustice.

I believe that the most valuable part of this story is when Delaney begins to question many things through one of his blog entrees. In the second part, Chapter 5, Delaney begins to explore his own thoughts and I believe we can now tell that his character is becoming less of an ass. In this chapter he speaks about how immigrants have been treated and whether or not it is right, he obviously addresses them as coyotes. One of the quotes I really like about this chapter is when he says, “The coyote is not to blame - he is only trying to survive, to make a living, to take advantage of the opportunities available to him.” I believe it is here where he justifies all the immigrants. People are trying to survive and have that American dream where they find stability and get to live a life of no secrecy.

Although that is a meaningful quote, it is not the most important. I strongly believe that the most important part of this chapter is when he says, "If we invade his territory, then why indeed should we be surprised when he invades ours?" I understand that some agreement or settlement happened and that the Native Americans gave away the territory, but why should there even be a territory to sell or give away? I know I may sound like a hippie when I say that the world should be united as one and not divided into seven continents or fifty states. I believe the Earth belongs to no one and therefore we can't claim any piece of dirt as our own. Like Ricardo Arjona says in one of his songs, "If the universal visa extends the day we are born and expires in death, why are they still chasing you if the consul of the heavens already gave you permission." I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing and I'm sure I went off topic, but this is what this chapter really made me do. It made me analyze and really think about what being an immigrant really is. If there were no territories, wouldn't we all be the same and not be labeled as an "illegal?" To be completely honest, I haven't finished reading the book, but I can't help wonder if this was going through Delaney's head as well.