Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here

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Urgent and extraordinary, this book serves as a tribute to the indomitable human spirit. Journalist Jonathan Blitzer, with nearly a decade of experience covering the immigration crisis at America's southern border, delves into the roots of this emergency. He traces the narrative back to the civil wars in El Salvador and Guatemala during the 1980s, the American prison system in the 1990s, and the mass deportation policies that turned local criminals into international syndicates. He examines Honduras's violent crime crackdowns in the 2000s and the rise of gangs throughout Central America and the U.S. The Trump era intensified these issues, with immigration becoming a focal point of populism and mass internments. This book provides a comprehensive account of America's immigration challenges while exploring themes of struggle and resilience. It tells the epic story of individuals whose lives cross borders and those who assist or obstruct them. Ultimately, it seeks to answer not only how America arrived at this point but also who we are and aspire to be in our liberal democracies, whether through the incarceration of children at the border or witnessing their perilous journeys across the Mediterranean.