An issue that has dominated American politics for my entire voting life (and much longer) is immigration. It feels like a no brainer to tackle this month in the column, but I want to state clearly that for these purposes I’ve kept this list to those immigrating to the US from Central America by way of the US – Mexico border. This is not to ignore the journey and experiences of people who have come to the USA from other places, but because so much of the political rhetoric around immigration is focused on the US – Mexico border.
Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis by Jonathan Blitzer
This is the most comprehensive history of immigration from Central America to The United States that I have read. The book digs deep into the stories of multiple immigrants from the 1970s to today and tells a much broader story about the policies, people, and events that have shaped the crisis at the border. This is the kind of deeply reported book that wins a Pulitzer Prize.
The Undocumented Americas by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
A work of narrative nonfiction, this book explores the lives of undocumented immigrants in the USA after the 2016 election, including the life of the author. It is beautifully written. Villavicencio does not shy away from delivering a pointed and poignant analysis of the experiences and realities for many people living in the USA without the paperwork that protects them from deportation.
The Far Away Brothers (Adapted for Young Adults): Two Teenage Immigrants Making a Life in America by Lauren Markham
In The Far Away Brothers we get to meet Ernesto and Raúl Flores, identical twins from El Salvador, who come to California as unaccompanied minors. Not only does Markham tell us the story of the Flores twins but also the larger political and economic landscape that made their immigration to the USA necessary. This book has history, politics, and so much heart all wrapped up in an incredibly propulsive story.
The Devil’s Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
This book was written 20 years ago and still captures much of the truth about the dangers of crossing the US/Mexico border through the desert. Urrea chronicles one group of men in 2001 who cross the desert hoping to make safe entry into the country. He also zooms out to give us historical context for the ways immigration from and through Mexico has changed in the last century.
Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff
In 2018 you could not escape the headlines about Trump’s child separation policy that tore families apart upon arrival to the United States. In this 2021 book, journalist Jacob Soboroff goes beyond the headlines and digs into the details of the inhumane policy and the fallout it had on the people who lived through this torture.
Solito by Javier Zamora
In Javier Zamora’s memoir we watch a young child travel to the United States as part of a group aiming to immigrate to the States. He thinks the trip will take two weeks, it ends up taking two months, and is filled with unexpected roadblocks and traumas. Solito is beautifully written, the way only a poet could, and explores the human toll of immigration and the impacts it has on a child.
Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions by Valeria Luiselli
An extended essay, Tell Me How it Ends, is a chronicle of Luiselli’s experiences as a translator for children immigrants. The book shows the bureaucratic maze that is present at every step of the journey once a person arrives in the US. It also shows the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that many people experience as they try to make a new home for themselves.
If you like this book, I have to recommend an even more in depth book that explores how language and translation come into play in the story of immigration. It is called Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration by Alejandra Oliva, and it shouldn’t be missed. Oliva’s book is in conversation with both Tell Me How it Ends and The Undocumented Americas for being in conversation with her book, which she credits in her book.
Love love love! TY!