Latinx High Schoolers Train To Be Border Patrol Agents

[LeftInTX]

Article from 2021, but don't remember seeing it posted here.

For these students, law enforcement offers a steady job that can guarantee them a solid future; but as time goes on, they come to question if the career is at odds with their identities, values, and families.

For Cristina, a child of immigrants, a Border Patrol job is a route to the middle class and an opportunity to carry her parents’ dreams forward. “My dad came over here to have a better life,” she says early on in the film. “I’m the first one that’s going to go to college and go into a major career.” When she tells her dad about a Border Patrol starting position that would pay more than $51,000, he says he didn’t start making that much money until two years ago. Her situation isn’t uncommon for children of immigrants along the border; text on the screen tells us that law enforcement is one of the few career fields in El Paso with wages comparable to the national average. After graduation, Cristina starts in a Border Patrol training program and takes night classes at a community college. She talks about how the club is like a family to her and how excited she is about her path.

When O’Rourke narrowly loses, we are at his El Paso rally with Cristina and her mother. When they get home that night, she sobs in her mother’s arms. “This changes everything,” she tells her. “I’m doubting whether to continue with Border Patrol.”

https://www.texasobserver.org/in-at-the-ready-latinx-high-schoolers-train-to-be-border-patrol-agents/