State Police

Ever since I was a child I have always looked up to policemen as being the “good guys” because they lay down the law and keep our country safe. It has never occurred to me that in some countries the police are the enemies.  However, in the book church members try and support the migrants, giving them food and a place to sleep for days or sometimes even months. Migrants feared that the state police would come and arrest them, sending them back home where they came from. Julio Cesar Trujilo Velasquez, a spokesman for the Diocese of Orizaba says, “State police would beat migrants, sometimes take their money, and then throw them into the back of their trucks” (Nazario 112) Church members began holding public protest outside the local hospital because, “the migrant claimed that a police officer had pushed him toward the train…” (112). The police were deporting the migrant even though he had just lost his leg and was unable to walk. Protesters screamed, “We want justice!” (112).

I have never experienced anything like what these kids and adults have gone through, but admire their courage and bravery greatly. Enrique’s Journey has really showed me the difference in police systems and how problems are gone about. The question I’ve been asking myself throughout this book is: why has nothing been done about this huge problem? And another question I have is: Why are gangs such a bigger issue in central America than in North America?