As some may be aware, a caravan of migrants from Central America is winding its way north to the United States border as you read this post. It departed from Honduras in mid-October and around 7,500 people are estimated to be a part. This caravan has been highly politicized in anticipation for the midterm elections; after all, demonizing the people in it was one of Trump’s largest campaign tactics, and closing the US/Mexico border was his largest promise. As expected, Trump has not been silent. He tweeted that “criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in” with the caravan, which has since been disputed and Trump has walked back on. However, the statement did the trick to stoke up the old fears and xenophobia that was so publicized, especially around the 2016 election — though we should not forget that it has not gone away. On October 25th, the Washington Post released that upwards of 1,000 United States troops, most of them active duty, will be deployed to the border. While it is legally complicated to get the army involved in domestic situations, they will be in support roles for the border patrol. Most recently, Trump has considered completely shutting down the border. A storm is approaching from Honduras, and we will have to see how exactly United States officials will respond when the caravan arrives.

I am glad that we watched Sin Nombre as a class with this intense reality and political discourse that is happening today. While most if not all of us imagined the conditions of the illegal immigrant’s journey to the United States, now we have an image to the caravan. It is harder to Other humans when you have had a glimpse into their lives, even if that glimpse is fictional; this has been the most enriching part of this class for me thus far, and why I believe many of us chose to take it. When approached with such vitriol and hate of the Other, learning about borders in all their shapes and forms is the first step to consider how to dismantle them.

Something that should not be glossed over here as well is Trump’s plan to delegitimize the transgender community, another effort that strips rights from minority communities. On October 22nd, the Department of Health and Human Services released a memo that proposed “sex” to be defined as “a person’s status as male or female based on immutable biological traits identifiable by or before birth.” This proposal would completely strip the identity of an entire community in an official sense.

I will also use this space to give a quick plug for democracy. Please do participate in this election, whatever political views you align with — and this doesn’t necessarily mean just send the absentee ballot, but to engage in discourse about what the effects of electing members to office will be. Two things to remember, agree or disagree with, and discuss: we as college students have power in our privilege, and must remember to not insulate ourselves in just this community (it’s easy to forget about the world, I do it all the time). And having a democratic voice is a wonderful asset that is often overlooked. How will we use it?

—Aidan