Amor and Exile: True Stories of Love Across America's Borders

by Nathaniel Hoffman, Nicole Salgado

Across the United States, American citizens are forced underground, exiled abroad and separated from their spouses for a surprising reason. Amor and Exile is the story of American citizens—including Veronica, Ben, J.W., and Nicole—who fall in love with undocumented immigrants only to find themselves trapped in a legal labyrinth, stymied by their country’s de facto exclusion of their partners. Journalist Nathaniel Hoffman visited both sides of the border to document the lives of these couples caught in the crossfire of America’s high stakes political fight over immigration. In his disarming and precise style, Hoffman also traces the historical relationship between immigration, love and marriage. Lending an authentic voice to Amor and Exile, coauthor Nicole Salgado delivers a searing first-person account of life in the U.S. with her husband while he was undocumented, her tortured decision to leave the country with him, and their seven years of exile and starting over together in Mexico. Amor and Exile tells of love that transcends borders—a story shared by hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens—cutting through the immigration debate rhetoric and providing a courageous perspective for one of the most vexing policy problems of our time.

Genres: Nonfiction

300 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 2013

About the author

Nathaniel Hoffman has written about immigration and politics for more than a decade as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Idaho and California. Hoffman filed stories for the Christian Science Monitor, High Country News, The Miami Herald, AlterNet and NewWest.net and produced audio reports for KQED public radio in San Francisco and KBSX in Boise.
He worked as a reporter at the Boise Weekly, the Contra Costa Times and the Idaho Press-Tribune. His journalism has taken him to Cuba twice, to Mexico, Israel and Lebanon and deep into Oregon’s Hell’s Canyon. Hoffman has covered the immigration and demographics beat since he got his start in journalism in Nampa, Idaho in 2001.
In 2010, Hoffman left his post as News Editor at Boise Weekly to write Amor and Exile. Hoffman is the founding editor of The Blue Review, a journal of popular scholarship at Boise State University. He lives in Boise with his wife and two daughters and a large front-yard garden.
Hoffman blogs at Paleomedia.org and microblogs @paleomedia.

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have a long-standing interest in immigration and border issues so I found this book quite interesting. It alternates between commentary, history of border policy, and the stories of about six couples who are trying to navigate our crazy immigration rules to live legally in the US as a couple. It's frustrating. One of the stories is written by the co-author Nicole Salgado and includes excerpts from her journal. It has a lot of interesting information in it, but I felt like it would have been more powerful had it been edited down more, and maybe organized a bit differently. It felt a bit disjointed.

[Celene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I bought this book via an Indiegogo campaign.

This book was a unique take on the broken immigration system rampant within the United States. Hoffman's journalistic style certainly shines through in his chapters; the narratives are woven together well and the politics are researched quite thoroughly. Salgado's perspective was certainly valuable, but after a few chapters almost seemed to border on redundancy. Regardless, it was a nice read. The book served as a compelling reminder and call to amend many of the bureaucratic and systemic errors in US immigration law/policy.

[Mark Owens · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to give this two stars because although it was very informative and revealing of our broken immigration policy here in the U.S., and was full of statistics, history and policy, I found it rather a bore to read. The multitude of stories of transnational love and the trials of self-exile and couples and families separated by immigration policy lacked any sort of heart or real ability to move this reader. I could have dealt with much less of the saga of Salgado's memoirs of self-exploration and frustrated love. Too political for me, but maybe I was expecting something more heartfelt.

[Karen Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://sustenancescout.blogspot.com/2...

AMOR & EXILE effectively contributes to the ongoing discussion of U.S. immigration issues while it also reveals how related—and often very personal and painful—dramas play out across the country, usually far from any border. It’s an important read for anyone interested in fully understanding the impact of our country’s immigration policies on everyone involved.

[Nancy Dardarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked the personal parts and sort of glazed over in the political/ legal parts. But overall i learned a lot and am glad I read it. What a screwed up country the US is, I'm glad my home is Mexico now.

[Nathaniel Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I do say so myself ...

[Nicole Salgado]

Please review our book! :)

[JamieLou Delavan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories of love and commitment are beautiful. I was surprised by my misinformation regarding immigration and marriage. This adds a whole new layer to the discussion around immigration reform

[Gwynn]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12447682

[Mosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the topic is interesting and the dual-presentation gives it both an objective (Hoffman) and personal (Salgado) touch, it's just not terribly well-written (at times sloppily so).

[Nathaniel Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well... it is my book...

[Aaron Ramirez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book it has different perspectives on the same topic. It makes it very personal and easy to understand even if you’re not affected by immigration laws.