Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America

Borders can be a passageway for mixing cultures and fostering tolerance, but they can also be militarized to create and worsen separations between groups. Lalami identifies herself in more than one instance as a person who is singled out or targeted; for example, she notes that the “gaze” of an agent at the Sierra Blanca checkpoint “lingered” on her longer than on her white friends. Race, ethnicity, and national origin are factors involved in border patrolling, as Lalami documents leniency regarding white travelers’ crossings versus those of travelers of color. These distinctions expand the issue of border control into one of racial control or dominance as Lalami, despite being a US citizen, still draws agents’ attention when entering or exiting the country.

The divisions between people that result from physical divisions between areas and regions are framed as a recent development, with Lalami noting that both the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez and that between Morocco and Melilla used to be peaceful and prosperous, allowing fluid travel between cultures and communities. To the detriment of both sides, the imposition of borders between these places created a point of violent contention. While the border between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez creates a perception of wealth and success on the US side and danger and crime on the Mexican side, reality shifts to match the expectation; thus, Ciudad Juarez suffered from issues related to drugs and violent crime while El Paso prospered. In the case of Morocco and Melilla, the border is much more violent, with regular confrontations leading to deaths and injuries. Without the strict border, both sides were content and open; Lalami cites this history to establish a link between physical openness and social receptiveness to foreign ideas and people.

Throughout the essay, Lalami emphasizes the characterizations of Mexican people and culture by President Trump and his administration, noting that their intention was consistently to frame Mexican people as criminals. Lalami points out that the Supreme Court’s decision to allow racial profiling at border inspections was perceived as justifying this portrayal and resulted in increased mistreatment of both Mexican immigrants and Mexican American citizens. Legal discrimination against both groups is largely founded on the kind of rhetoric employed by the Trump administration and justified as a measure to prevent drug trafficking. However, Lalami points out that no border wall or increased border protection measures have been implemented along the northern border of the US, although for decades lethal drugs such as heroin, OxyContin, fentanyl, and ecstasy have been smuggled into the US via Canada.

Lalami points out that the “southern border conveys something about America’s sense of itself that the northern border doesn’t” (57). Race is at the core of this issue: As Lalami points out, the wall between the US and Mexico is meant to keep Hispanic people out, while the question of building a wall on the northern border is never raised. Likewise, although “Canada has the most estimated visa overstays [...] U.S. politicians don’t accuse Canadians of ‘stealing jobs,’ [...] nor is the specter of rape and crime ever raised” (57). The hypocrisy of the border patrol issue, then, is anchored in America’s idea of itself as a white nation and its solidarity with other nations it perceives as white; thus, people of color are alienated, regardless of legal status.

At border crossings, speaking Spanish or looking Mexican can lead to harassment and detention by border patrol agents, even when one is a legal citizen of the US. The possibility of unlawful arrest or harassment is another way in which citizenship becomes conditional, as the protections and privileges afforded to white travelers are overlooked when dealing with non-white citizens in similar situations. Though border checkpoints are meant to keep out illegal immigrants, Lalami notes that climate change may lead to large migrations within the US; this allows her to illustrate that allowing agents to infringe on rights at checkpoints does not only affect those who physically cross into the country. With checkpoints as far as 100 miles from the border, citizens of color in much of the US could be stopped and searched at any permanent or temporary checkpoint. Thus, freedom of movement and privacy are subject to the discretion of border patrol agents, who are legally free to discriminate based on appearance.

Much of the rhetoric in this essay points to the issue of negative identification, in which America identifies itself in opposition to other countries and peoples. Portraying Mexico as criminal, violent, and dishonest provides a contrasting identification for America as law-abiding, peaceful, and honest. This negative identification extends to questions of identity, such as race and ethnicity; negative traits are ascribed to people of color and used in reverse to create a favorable description of whiteness. As a result, the idea of America as a white nation is a fragile one. It hinges on the perpetual oppression and slander of other nationalities, races, and cultures to maintain a sense of self. Lalami highlights that this form of identification prompts violence against and harassment of people of color: Whenever a person of “Mexican ancestry” is detained, the contrasting sense of upright US identity is upheld, providing a misguided sense of comfort to white Americans.