“The Border Patrol State” was written in 1994 by Leslie Marmon Silko. At this time she was living in Tucson, AZ, one of the Border States. Silko writes from a Laguna Pueblo Native American background, mostly writing about the Native American people. She was born right on the outside of the reservation so she was influenced both by her Indian culture and the culture of Albuquerque. This article was published in Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit: Essays on Native American Life Today, a collection of short stories and articles that talk about her life as a Native American and the racism she has faced. This article was meant for everyone one to read but especially to show those not from these states the injustice that was happening within their own country. According the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website, during the 80’s and 90’s, the United States saw a large increase in illegal immigration. Then the U.S. decided to improve its security through acquiring new technology and employing many more officers. The government provided funding to place a new computer system to stop the illegal border crossing. This was during the time of Silko’s experience with border patrol. She faced the result of the increase of immigration. The main issue this …show more content…
An example of this is when the dog on page # consciously decides to not notify the officers of the marijuana in the narrator’s purse. Silko claims that the dog knows the injustice of the situation and helps her out by tricking the officers. This claim is completely illogical and makes the story seem illegitimate. She also makes outrageous claims without any evidence such as, “It is no use; borders haven 't worked, and they won 't work,” (Silko #). She ignores all statistics of the effectiveness of decreasing drug trafficking and illegal immigration and only supports her statement by saying “human beings are natural forces of the