The Line Becomes a River Themes

After studying the U.S.–Mexico border at college, Francisco Cantú takes a job with the United States Border Patrol, hoping that firsthand experience will help him understand the border better. However, he is unprepared for the reality of confronting death and desperation every day. His job as a field agent entails tracking migrants crossing the desert in harsh conditions, many of them fleeing danger at home, and processing anyone he finds alive into the legal system…

The title The Line Becomes a River describes the U.S.–Mexico border: a straight line drawn arbitrarily through the desert until it meets the Rio Grande on the western edge of Texas, where the line becomes a river, flowing to the Gulf of Mexico. The river itself is a site of the natural migration of fish, and elsewhere, Cantú describes other natural migratory phenomena, such as those of birds and insects. With these details, Cantú underlines…

The desert landscape of the Southwestern United States forms a majestic backdrop to Cantú’s life and work in Border Patrol. As the son of a former park ranger, Cantú appreciates and respects nature instinctively, and he pays close attention to the creatures and plants that surround him. Yet as his work with Border Patrol progresses, he witnesses and participates in acts that defile nature, and he finds his own connection with it growing complicated…

Cantú’s story of working the U.S.–Mexico border is a story of institutionalization. He enters the United States Border Patrol as an idealistic young man hoping to learn about the border so he can someday use what he learns to help people. However, as he enters the machinery of border enforcement, he grows ever more detached from the migrants he meets as well as his own friends and family, and he witnesses numerous acts of…