Luis Alberto Urrea

Because Mexico has done something the US hasn’t had the nerve to do: elect a woman to lead their country

I have so much hope for a future where President Kamala Harris can sit down with Presidenta Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo and reenvision the Americas. A female energy may be able to imagine a border that isn’t a crisis but an opportunity—for both countries—a border where immigrants are not criminals by definition, but refugees who believe in the future America once promised. Perhaps all that is needed is the imagination of women and their political power to guide both countries to a better future, instead of relying on the old tropes of divisiveness, violence, and fear.

Ever since he came down that stupid escalator, Trump has presented the border as a simple trope: “There is a line and strangers are coming over the line to eat your dogs and take your jobs.” It is so much more complicated. And America hasn’t always handled it well: we aren’t that far removed from Operation Wetback. But what if we did not look at the border as a battle zone but as a liminal space where change is possible?

I don’t know that Kamala Harris has the answers, but I do believe she is someone willing to push for the right solutions. I do believe she is someone willing to listen to all sides and fight for a sane and humane approach to immigration and the challenges on the border. At her core, I believe Kamala Harris cares deeply about la gente and values action over propaganda, compassion over racism, hope over despair—that’s what I’m voting for.

Luis Alberto Urrea is the award-winning author of nineteen books, including The Devil’s Highway (finalist for the Pulitzer Prize) and Good Night, Irene.