The real "Tortilla Curtain"

Should illegal immigrants be granted the privilege of defending themselves when their civil rights are threatened? In a current case, Roger Barnett of Douglass Arizona, where he lives on a ranch that is used daily by illegal immigrants entering the country, is being sued by 16 Mexican nationals who are accusing him of “conspiring to violate their civil rights when he stopped them at gunpoint on the US-Mexico border” (Seper 1). The immigrants are being represented by The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (Maldef), who seek “$32 million in actual and punitive damages for civil rights violations, the infliction of emotional distress and other crimes” (Seper 4). Barnett’s attorney has argued that illegal immigrants should not have the same rights as US citizens, making the entire case void. Barnet’s land has been littered upon and vandalized for years, resulting in established immigrant trails that are ten inches deep in trash which include “human waste, used toilet paper, soiled diapers, cigarette packs, clothes, backpacks, empty 1-gallon water bottles, chewing-gum wrappers and aluminum foil” (Seper 13). The case’s central issue lies in Barnett’s belief that he is the victim in the case. He has stated, “’When someone’s home and loved ones are in jeopardy and the government seemingly can’t do anything about it, I feel justified in taking matters into my own hands. And I always watch my back’” (Seper 17). In this time, it is questionable whether or not these 16 illegal aliens deserve the chance to reap the benefits of our legal system. The case has long surpassed the fundamental idea of money, and has become a moral strife in which Americans have begun to re-examine their own beliefs on the current immigration situation.
Today’s America is experiencing conflicts on many diverse issues. The illegal immigration situation does not only affect those at the conflict’s center (like our “hero” from Arizona), but America as a whole. T. C. Boyle’s, The Tortilla Curtain brings the issue in question to readers all over the US. Boyle presents immigration with neutral pretences, allowing his readers to make their own conclusions without preconceptions. Some readers may side with the concerned, sometimes arrogant members of Delaney’s gated community, who believe in locking out the immigrants, as if they were coyotes living off their trash (perhaps I read into the symbolism too much?). These people, comparable to our Roger Barnett, would have no problem “turning over 12,000 illegal immigrants to the border patrol since 1998” (Seper 9). I believe that Americans will always be split on this issue; it is one that affects peoples’ lives very differently, and one that may never be solved simply.
Men like Roger Barnett are set in their ways. They are, and will always be, adamant supporters of the anti-immigration cause. Being that this is the unfortunate case in today’s society, it is all more important to educate the undecided population of America. By reading books like T.C. Boyle’s The Tortilla Curtain, American youths are given the chance to see both sides of the issue, and are thus able to decide if they really can feel hatred towards a character like Candido, who is really only trying to earn the same opportunities that we (yes, I’m talking about the kids in this very class) take for granted.


Seper, Jerry. "16 Illegals Sue Arizona Rancher." Washington Times 9 Feb. 2009.
17 Mar. 2009 16-illegals-sue-arizona-rancher/>.