Hannah Celemen

Reflection Paper #3
February 8, 2015
Sin Nombre
Mankinds desperate fight for a better life is portrayed in Sin Nombre as Cary Fukunaga
brings us a realistic film presenting the fearful journey of immigrants and the brutality of gangs.
In 2009, Fukunaga skillfully brings two unexpected people together as they both pursue their
dream of having a peaceful and better life. They must leave their homes in Mexico to escape
their troubles. Sin Nombre when translated means to Nameless or Without a Name, predicts the
journey the characters must take to find their own identities. The film targets Willy as he loses
his identity by becoming a member of the MS13 gang and they rename him Casper. Despite the
violent deeds he is forced to do to prove himself a capable member, Willy possesses a kind and
gentle soul that can love, protect and value life. On the other hand Fukunaga introduces us to
Sayra, a young Honduran immigrating to America with her family, who is the complete opposite
of Willy and it is her innocence that galvanizes him to turn against his gang and escape the life of
atrocity. This paper explores how Sin Nombre explains the reasoning behind the difficult
decisions Latin Americans make to attempt this journey through Mexico to America with the
slightest chance and hope that they will succeed in achieving the good life.
I have always known that the immigration system into the U.S.A. is a long and tedious
process. My parents and I had to undergo the legal process of immigrating to the State. It is all
thanks to my father getting a working visa ahead of my mother and I. We were apart for two
years before he could petition for us to join him. Since migrating to the States, it took my father
five years and three years for my mother and I to receive our Green cards. After more years of
waiting, it took my father 11 years and my mother and I nine years to finally become U.S.
citizens. There was a lot of money, paperwork and patience for us to get to this point. My parents

also filed for dual citizenship so they could regain their Philippine citizenship. It was an
interesting fact to learn that according to the Migration Policy Institute, the Philippines is only
second to Mexico when it comes to having the largest group of people migrating to the U.S.
Furthermore, Filipino women are the most likely to migrate and become part of the civilian labor
force. In comparison, Mexican immigrants are the number one migrating group to the U.S. due
to their need for employment. Majority of immigrants are male that illegally cross the border
back and forth. Fukunaga did not forget to include this fact in his film as we see the women and
elderly that stays behind in Mexico. I also see that amidst the huddled bodies of people on the
roof of the train, Sayra was one of the very few women motivated to go on this treacherous
voyage to the U.S. It was also interesting to learn that the Immigration Reform and Control act of
1986, established to promote border security, eventually had to legalize close to 2.3 million
unauthorized Mexican migrants. In exchange, they set tougher border enforcements and penalties
on any American employers that hire unauthorized workers. This only leads to the immigrants
increased desperation to cross the border sooner than later despite the strict border security when
there is that chance they will get away with it.
Sayra speaks of a premonition a psychic made, Youll make it to the
U.S.A. not in Gods hands but in the hands of the devil. This foreshadows
her meeting with Willy. Willy in a sense embodies the Devil because of all his
sins in the past. However, in saving her he redeems himself. It is because of
his inevitable death and sacrifice that she successful crosses the river to
America. Her travel companions consists of her uncle and father as they
believe that escaping to America is the only way to overcome the poor social
and economic conditions of Honduras. They hope that by reaching their

relative in New Jersey, they can finally start a new life. According to the
World Bank, data from 2013 measured that 64.5% of Hondurans live in
poverty. This is largely due to the prevailing income inequality and
unemployment in Honduras. According to recent data collected by Pew
Research, the Honduran economy like other Central American nations are
greatly dependent on remittances, which is the sum of money, sent home by
migrant families. The Migration Policy Institute reports that remittances alone
are the largest source of domestic income. This is applicable to Sayra
because her father used to send money home from America before his
deportation. She holds resentment towards her father because they have
been separated for years and his return does not bode well for her. She must
make the difficult decision to place her trust on him and hope that he knows
what is best for her when he drags her through Mexico.
I also read an interesting article about the increasing number of underage children from Central America undertaking this journey. The Economist
wrote an article about a 16-year-old Honduran girl who is being threatened
and pursued by gang members. Fearful for her life she makes the decision to
cross illegally into the U.S. The article reports that Rio Grande Valley River is
the hottest spot for these illegal crossings. I am not surprised to learn that
majority of these border-jumpers consists of parents and their children.
However, there is a spontaneous number of approximately 52,000 children
as of 2011 being caught without their parents. 15,000 of these children are
from Honduras. My take from this article is that this influx is caused by the

increasing crime, domestic abuse, and gang violence in Central America. The
young Honduras girls story is so similar to Sayras tale. I believe that Sayra
is around this girls age when she took on this journey and how she arrives in
the U.S. alone with her father and uncle no longer with her. I can almost
imagine that it is because of stories like hers that Fukunaga took his
inspiration to create Sayras character. This article described the childrens
experience during their journey through Mexico. It included the infamous
cargo train, referred to as The Beast, gangsters boarding the train to
kidnap or rape them, and migrants getting caught by border patrols. These
are scenes that are very familiar in Sin Nombre. Even the Rio Grande Valley
River may be the same river Sayra had to cross to get to America. I believe
that the most significant comparison between these children and the
characters in Sin Nombre, is the desperation in Sayra and Willy to escape the
gang members and begin a new life. This article was written in the summer
of 2014, indicating that this is a very recent spike of numbers in under-age
crossing. I am very interested to learn from The Economist that the U.S. has
no qualms sending illegal Mexican child migrants back across the border but
are under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, they
must treat Central American children differently because they must be given
a court hearing before being deported or allowed to stay. Those with relatives
in the U.S. are allowed to live with them while others are placed in foster
families or residential facilities. This is becoming an increasing problem for
the U.S. because these facilities are getting rapidly full. Overall, under-age

migrants seem to have better chances at staying in the U.S. than Mexicans
due to their different situations.
I liked this film mostly because I can understand and relate as an
immigrant from a different country. I found this film significantly more
informative than the other films weve watched in this class because my
findings from my research reveals how realistic and accurate Fukunaga tried
to create the journeys made by these people. Fukunaga is an amazing
director in succeeding to recreate the difficulties and challenges immigrants
must overcome to get to America. His use of the Sayra brought awareness to
under-age children taking on this difficult path alone so they can fulfill their
familys dream to reach the land of the free. Willy brought awareness to the
gang violence, the fear with betraying your gang and gangs being the cause
for escape to America. These are troubled stories that can be suspected from
each migrant taking on this hard journey. I find their determination, the
characters in the film and the migrants in real life, to be inspiring because I
understand their wish for a better life yet they must overcome obstacles that
prevent them from achieving their dreams. With deportations, strict
immigration process, and high border security, it is very difficult for them to
complete this journey because some of them, like Sayras uncle, have to reattempt this journey numerous times before he can succeed. I empathize
with the issues that Fukunaga presented us and I look forward to staying
current with the news for any changes in our laws about immigrants.

References
1. Gao, George. "5 Facts about Honduras and Immigration." Pew Research
Center RSS. Pew Research Center, 11 Aug. 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
2. Krogstad, Jens. "Number of Latino Children Caught Trying to Enter U.S.
Nearly Doubles in Less than a Year." Pew Research Center RSS. Pew Research
Center, 10 June 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
3. "Mexican Immigrants in the United States." Migrationpolicy.org. Migration
Policy Institute, 02 Oct. 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.
4. "Mexico." Central Intelligence Agency: The World Factbook. Central
Intelligence Agency, n.d. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.
5. "Under-age and on the Move." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper,
28 June 2014. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.