A border agent and immigrant defies stereotypes

“Immigration from Mexico, legal or not, has long been considered a problem in the USA on the grounds that too many border-crossers aren’t assimilating and becoming loyal citizens. Last week’s immigrant protests around the country, in which some protesters waved Mexican flags alongside Old Glory, no doubt only fuel these suspicions. There are even those who warn of an impending plot to reannex the nation’s southwestern states back to Mexico, no matter how far-fetched that might sound.

But the irony is that many of those who keep watch over our borders each day are, in fact, Mexican-American. Although the U.S. Border Patrol doesn’t keep statistics on where its agents are born, agency spokesman Mario Martinez says at least 6,700 of the country’s 12,800 Border Patrol agents identify themselves as Hispanic. Perhaps not surprisingly, the nation’s highest-ranking Border Patrol agent, David Aguilar, also bears a Spanish surname.”

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