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The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite History & Biography (2019)What happens when an undocumented teen mother takes on the U.S. immigration system?
When Aida Hernandez was born in 1987 in Agua Prieta, Mexico, the nearby U.S. border was little more than a worn-down fence. Eight years later, Aida's mother took her and her siblings to live in Douglas, Arizona. By then, the border had become one of the most heavily policed sites in America.
Undocumented, Aida fought to make her way. She learned English, watched Friends, and, after having a baby at sixteen, dreamed of teaching dance and moving with her son to New York City. But life had other plans. Following a misstep that led to her deportation, Aida found herself in a Mexican city marked by violence, in a country that was not hers. To get back to the United States and reunite with her son, she embarked on a harrowing journey. The daughter of a rebel hero from the mountains of Chihuahua, Aida has a genius for survival--but returning to the United States was just the beginning of her quest.
Taking us into detention centers, immigration courts, and the inner lives of Aida and other daring characters, The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez reveals the human consequences of militarizing what was once a more forgiving border. With emotional force and narrative suspense, Aaron Bobrow-Strain brings us into the heart of a violently unequal America. He also shows us that the heroes of our current immigration wars are less likely to be perfect paragons of virtue than complex, flawed human beings who deserve justice and empathy all the same.
When Aida Hernandez was born in 1987 in Agua Prieta, Mexico, the nearby U.S. border was little more than a worn-down fence. Eight years later, Aida's mother took her and her siblings to live in Douglas, Arizona. By then, the border had become one of the most heavily policed sites in America.
Undocumented, Aida fought to make her way. She learned English, watched Friends, and, after having a baby at sixteen, dreamed of teaching dance and moving with her son to New York City. But life had other plans. Following a misstep that led to her deportation, Aida found herself in a Mexican city marked by violence, in a country that was not hers. To get back to the United States and reunite with her son, she embarked on a harrowing journey. The daughter of a rebel hero from the mountains of Chihuahua, Aida has a genius for survival--but returning to the United States was just the beginning of her quest.
Taking us into detention centers, immigration courts, and the inner lives of Aida and other daring characters, The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez reveals the human consequences of militarizing what was once a more forgiving border. With emotional force and narrative suspense, Aaron Bobrow-Strain brings us into the heart of a violently unequal America. He also shows us that the heroes of our current immigration wars are less likely to be perfect paragons of virtue than complex, flawed human beings who deserve justice and empathy all the same.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published April 16, 2019
146 people are currently reading
8065 people want to read
About the author
Aaron Bobrow-Strain
4 books29 followersAaron Bobrow-Strain is a professor of politics at Whitman College, where he teaches courses dealing with food, immigration, and the U.S.-Mexico border. His writing has appeared in Believer, The Chronicle of Higher Education Review, Salon, and Gastronomica. Along with The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story, he is the author of White Bread: A Social History of the Store-Bought Loaf and Intimate Enemies: Landowners, Power, and Violence in Chiapas. In the 1990s, he worked on the U.S.-Mexico border as an activist and educator. He is a founding member of the Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition in Washington State.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
March 17, 2019
The House on Mango Street changed Aida Hernandez's life. In her darkest hours, she remembered the words of hope: "I have gone a long way to come back."
Aida wanted to dance. She wanted to finish high school and go to college. She wanted to become a therapist. She wanted to give her son a good home. She wanted to love and be loved. Her hopes were just like yours and mine.
But Aida's life held more horrors than any one body should be able to endure. She had survived even death but suffered from crippling CPTSD--Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She came from a legacy of abuse but a knife attack tipped her over the edge. It only took one mistake, a $6 mistake, to remove Aida from her son and family, locked up for months in a women's prison. They were not given tampons, or enough toilet paper, or adequate wholesome food. There were not enough beds or blankets to keep warm.
And that is when Aida saw The House on Mango Street on the prison library shelf and it started her reclamation and a life of helping the other women with her.
Aaron Bobrow-Strain's book The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez brings to life unforgettable women, and through their stories, explores the failure of Prevention Through Deterrence which posits that if the journey is horrific enough people will not come. Women suffer the most in this system.
He shows how American economic and political policies and the desire for cheap labor created the influx of illegal immigrants.
Immigrants in detention centers are treated like hardened criminals with shackles, solitary confinement, lack of medical care, meager inedible food, and a scarcity of hygiene supplies. They have no legal rights. They are provided no legal counsel. Border Patrol and detention centers have created jobs and business--paid for by the government.
Who are the people seeking refuge in America? What drives them from their homeland? What options are available for legal immigration? What happens to those who are apprehended? This book will answer all your questions. But you may not like the answers.
Justice. How many times have we forgotten this value?
The proceeds from this book will be shared between Aida Hernandez, the Chiricahua Community Health Centers to support emergency services for people dealing with domestic violence or sexual assault, and the author to offset costs of writing the book. Which for me means an instant add to my "to buy" list.
I thank the publisher who provided a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
Aida wanted to dance. She wanted to finish high school and go to college. She wanted to become a therapist. She wanted to give her son a good home. She wanted to love and be loved. Her hopes were just like yours and mine.
But Aida's life held more horrors than any one body should be able to endure. She had survived even death but suffered from crippling CPTSD--Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. She came from a legacy of abuse but a knife attack tipped her over the edge. It only took one mistake, a $6 mistake, to remove Aida from her son and family, locked up for months in a women's prison. They were not given tampons, or enough toilet paper, or adequate wholesome food. There were not enough beds or blankets to keep warm.
And that is when Aida saw The House on Mango Street on the prison library shelf and it started her reclamation and a life of helping the other women with her.
Aaron Bobrow-Strain's book The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez brings to life unforgettable women, and through their stories, explores the failure of Prevention Through Deterrence which posits that if the journey is horrific enough people will not come. Women suffer the most in this system.
He shows how American economic and political policies and the desire for cheap labor created the influx of illegal immigrants.
Immigrants in detention centers are treated like hardened criminals with shackles, solitary confinement, lack of medical care, meager inedible food, and a scarcity of hygiene supplies. They have no legal rights. They are provided no legal counsel. Border Patrol and detention centers have created jobs and business--paid for by the government.
Who are the people seeking refuge in America? What drives them from their homeland? What options are available for legal immigration? What happens to those who are apprehended? This book will answer all your questions. But you may not like the answers.
Justice. How many times have we forgotten this value?
The proceeds from this book will be shared between Aida Hernandez, the Chiricahua Community Health Centers to support emergency services for people dealing with domestic violence or sexual assault, and the author to offset costs of writing the book. Which for me means an instant add to my "to buy" list.
I thank the publisher who provided a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
July 18, 2019
Aida’s story makes clear that if we care about women, we must change our immigration system and policies. We can’t talk about border security without talking about the abuse and sexual assault that often propel undocumented women to cross the border, the abuse and assault they so often experience in the crossing, and their particular vulnerability to abuse while living in the US undocumented. Long before Trump, the US engaged in a policy of “deterrence” that purposely pushed migrants into the most dangerous terrain, in hopes that they would give up in their attempts to cross. But for women separated from their children, or trying to support their children, or fleeing abuse and potentially murder, the toughest terrain just isn’t more terrifying than remaining in their home countries. Trump has taken what were always horrific policies and carried them to even more horrific extremes, so that more women find themselves making impossible choices with even fewer pathways toward help. What I love most about this book is the way that it refuses to engage with that rotten dichotomy that so often dominates the immigration debate: “the good/deserving” immigrant vs. “the bad/undeserving/criminal” immigrant. Aida’s life, like most people’s lives who find themselves in desperate circumstances, is much more complex than that binary allows for. She is a devoted mother, a loving daughter and sister and granddaughter, and she also breaks the law and makes a whole lot of very bad choices. Her story underscores the fact that we need to talk not about policies that serve angelic, perfect, mythical people, but about policies that serve real humans - because real humans make mistakes and mess up, but that doesn’t make them unworthy of support and the chance to live dignified lives. When I teach Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario, my students often say, at the end, that all Americans should read that book. To understand the special dangers that plague women as migrants, everyone should read this book as well.
October 10, 2019
The author took the story of one woman to explore the bigger plight of immigrants from Mexico. Aida’s story is complicated and nuanced as is the story of the border.
When I picked this up from my holds shelf at the library, I didn’t realize it was non-fiction. That made it more compelling to me. I liked that Aida’s life story is told, but I felt some of the tangents took me out of the moment. We get her father’s story and the counselor’s story (this is the person Aida starts to confide in once she goes through dealing with PTSD), but these stories are told in a way that don’t add much to Aida’s history.
This book is here at the right time. Aida lived in Douglas, Arizona for much of her life. As I started reading, The Daily podcast had an episode with a border agent that works in this city. It was interesting to hear his perspective in comparison to this book.
In the end, I’m glad I read it as I learned much more about the history of the border with Mexico. This is not an issue with easy sides.
When I picked this up from my holds shelf at the library, I didn’t realize it was non-fiction. That made it more compelling to me. I liked that Aida’s life story is told, but I felt some of the tangents took me out of the moment. We get her father’s story and the counselor’s story (this is the person Aida starts to confide in once she goes through dealing with PTSD), but these stories are told in a way that don’t add much to Aida’s history.
This book is here at the right time. Aida lived in Douglas, Arizona for much of her life. As I started reading, The Daily podcast had an episode with a border agent that works in this city. It was interesting to hear his perspective in comparison to this book.
In the end, I’m glad I read it as I learned much more about the history of the border with Mexico. This is not an issue with easy sides.
May 16, 2019
The book tackles a wide breadth of material, and it does so with grace. The author provides historical context so the reader understands how the current policies regarding the US-Mexican border came into place. Aida’s story highlights the failure of policies and those writing and enforcing them to account for the complexity of the lives they affect. I did feel that some of the information about Raúl and Ema distracted from the story, and I wish they had been included in a smoother way. But overall this book did a wonderful way of showing a heartbreaking problem without ever condemning the situation as hopeless.
January 15, 2019
An incredible story based on the life of Aida Hernandez, a Mexican woman who made her way to the U.S. only to experience one disaster after another, among them abuse, prison, homelessness, joblessness and poverty. The one shining light in her life was her son and she did everything she possibly could to keep them together.
The author learned of Aida and her story and through many interviews, along with his own research, turned her story, and the story of others, into a book. A timely border story that incorporates the history and difficulties of Mexicans migrating to the U.S. Aida's story, and others who tried and failed to relocate to the U.S., will resonate with readers who also follow the U.S. government's stand on immigration, a system that continues to be broken.
Reading this book, it's hard to believe everything that Aida went through. It's not an easy life for immigrants, even once they get to the U.S. Aida, however, persevered and built a life for her son and for herself. I only hope that she has finally found some peace and stability wherever she is living now.
Thank you Netgalley.
The author learned of Aida and her story and through many interviews, along with his own research, turned her story, and the story of others, into a book. A timely border story that incorporates the history and difficulties of Mexicans migrating to the U.S. Aida's story, and others who tried and failed to relocate to the U.S., will resonate with readers who also follow the U.S. government's stand on immigration, a system that continues to be broken.
Reading this book, it's hard to believe everything that Aida went through. It's not an easy life for immigrants, even once they get to the U.S. Aida, however, persevered and built a life for her son and for herself. I only hope that she has finally found some peace and stability wherever she is living now.
Thank you Netgalley.
May 1, 2019
I would strongly recommend this book to everyone! An incredibly compelling and comprehensive read, I felt both educated and moved
May 8, 2020
Didnt like at all.
July 5, 2019
Aida Hernandez's mother brought her from Mexico to Douglas, Arizona at the age of 9. Ada lived in Douglas until, as a young woman, she was deported. In Agua Prieta, Mexico, Aida was attacked and beaten so severely she was briefly thought to be dead (hence the title “death and life”). She was taken to the U.S. for medical treatment on a humanitarian visa, which she overstayed. Eventually she was sent to a detention center in Arizona after… well… impulsively doing something dumb. The book illustrates the overwhelming amount of domestic abuse that undocumented women experience, with partners taunting them that they will be deported if they call the police.
Besides Aida’s compelling story, the immigration experiences of two other women, Rosie and Ema, are covered. What sets this book apart from other immigration stories is the inclusion of comprehensive history of U.S. immigration policy over the past 25 years.
Besides Aida’s compelling story, the immigration experiences of two other women, Rosie and Ema, are covered. What sets this book apart from other immigration stories is the inclusion of comprehensive history of U.S. immigration policy over the past 25 years.
July 27, 2019
“Humans make mistakes. Immigrants cannot.”
This important book tells the story of a single undocumented mother as she is pulled back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The author does a really exceptional job in illustrating the cruelty of shortcutting due process in immigration enforcement and the creeping criminalisation of civil immigration law. Well worth reading especially amidst today’s ongoing immigration debate.
This important book tells the story of a single undocumented mother as she is pulled back and forth across the U.S.-Mexico border.
The author does a really exceptional job in illustrating the cruelty of shortcutting due process in immigration enforcement and the creeping criminalisation of civil immigration law. Well worth reading especially amidst today’s ongoing immigration debate.
January 5, 2021
Honestly, a breath of fresh air after reading American Dirt! Everything from politics to personal stories; this book did an excellent job merging as much as possible to help outsiders get a good look at the complexities of immigration (specifically for women). It was beautiful, gutt-punching, and honest all at the same time. I'm thankful for coming across this story and I will be suggesting it to anyone/everyone!
May 29, 2022
It’s so sad that living on the Mexico US border & you can’t freely go back & forth! It’s ridiculous. If I can provide for my family by going to my neighbor country & saving money by shopping there, who wouldn’t?
August 19, 2019
Full disclosure: Aaron Bobrow-Strain was my favorite professor in college. His book should be essential reading for everyone who lives in the United States. It's epic and intimate, and it left me infuriated by politics and policies. One helpful corrective for me was to read that I shouldn't refer to the immigration system as "broken," because it is working just fine for many people and companies, like certain politicians and for-profit detention centers; the fact that this "broken" system is functioning so well for so many means that the country lacks the impetus for just reforms. The book was hard to read at times, but that only heightens one's awareness of how hard Aida's death and life were. I recommend you read it.
August 24, 2019
This is such a human story, yet it manages to illuminate so many complex and systemic policy issues related to immigration, the militarization of the border (and its commercialization), violence against women and domestic abuse, PTSD, poverty, detention, and more. It is measured, the lives portrayed and upended are complicated and not reducible to good/bad. Wasn’t sure if I’d have the stomach for this after swimming in these waters work-wise for so long - but it really is good, and especially given the myopic cruelties of this administration, it’s a book I expect to be recommending often.
June 19, 2019
As I rate my books on a completely personal scale, I can't give this the five stars it deserves. As a reading experience for me, it was a bit tediously detailed at times and lot depressing, hence the compromise. But a tremendous amount of effort has gone into this, and it's a story about a world that probably most people have little clue about. Quite eye opening in that regard. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it as informative, rather than pleasurable.
August 19, 2020
I don’t usually write reviews and I don’t give a lot of 5 star ratings. But this book drew me into Ada’s life in a way that allowed me to connect with and see myself while also developing a much deeper understanding of a life vastly different than my own. This is a book that I know I’ll be thinking about for a long time and will draw from in my quest to understand immigration, the unique struggles of people of color, and in challenging my own privilege.
August 13, 2020
4.5. This was extremely well researched and I don’t know how it hasn’t gotten more traction. The narrative portion was a little long for my taste, but it was definitely interesting, and the asides about immigration law and other sociological factoids were also worthwhile.
July 31, 2022
Wow, this def belongs on a required reading list. In one book Bobrow-Strain covers personal narratives, complex histories and policies stemming from both sides of the border that contribute to push- and pull-factors for migrants forced to leave their home countries, the dangers they face, the daily stresses of living in constant fear in the U.S., the imbalance of protection and justice, the fact that seeking asylum is NOT a criminal offense but a Constitution-protected right, juxtaposed against the reality of how asylum seekers (including children) are treated in deliberately cruel ways to "discourage migration." As if.
Bobrow-Strain does all of this, local and transnational socio-historical contexts, through a thoughtful, poetic, and insightful story about Aida Hernandez. Her struggles are real, her contexts are recognizable, and the great need for understanding complex PTSD as a child migrant and survivor of domestic violence is so imperative. Bobrow-Strain includes the back stories of her father, whose past involvement in guerrilla politics sheds light on the corruption of Mexico's elite against its powerless, thus dissolving the "go back where you came from" option for countless. Ema, talented soccer player whose sexuality almost causes a rift with her mother, is forced to leave Ecuador due to the dire work situation. Rosie is a champion social worker who discovers her voice for helping others after surviving brutal hardships, and thus she can creatively give voice to her radio listeners while playing Colombian cumbias or listening to her many clients. As a reader, you'll learn a lot about both countries, the legal system for immigration and how it too often plays against htem, as Bobrow-Strain has done his homework. Definitely a slower read for me, due to the weight of the subject matter (one sentence referred to a tree in the Sonora Desert heavily weighed down with the underwear of raped women "displayed as trophies.") Lots of details about trauma, which is so necessary for empathy, but also huge trigger warning, and this is for those of us with the luxury of reading about these events and taking breaks in the reading. Still, this title goes on my "Highly Recommend" list.
Bobrow-Strain does all of this, local and transnational socio-historical contexts, through a thoughtful, poetic, and insightful story about Aida Hernandez. Her struggles are real, her contexts are recognizable, and the great need for understanding complex PTSD as a child migrant and survivor of domestic violence is so imperative. Bobrow-Strain includes the back stories of her father, whose past involvement in guerrilla politics sheds light on the corruption of Mexico's elite against its powerless, thus dissolving the "go back where you came from" option for countless. Ema, talented soccer player whose sexuality almost causes a rift with her mother, is forced to leave Ecuador due to the dire work situation. Rosie is a champion social worker who discovers her voice for helping others after surviving brutal hardships, and thus she can creatively give voice to her radio listeners while playing Colombian cumbias or listening to her many clients. As a reader, you'll learn a lot about both countries, the legal system for immigration and how it too often plays against htem, as Bobrow-Strain has done his homework. Definitely a slower read for me, due to the weight of the subject matter (one sentence referred to a tree in the Sonora Desert heavily weighed down with the underwear of raped women "displayed as trophies.") Lots of details about trauma, which is so necessary for empathy, but also huge trigger warning, and this is for those of us with the luxury of reading about these events and taking breaks in the reading. Still, this title goes on my "Highly Recommend" list.
January 17, 2021
I've never read a book like this before. Bobrow-Strain combines narrative storytelling, nonfiction journalism techniques, ethnography, history, and political analysis into a compelling story of a woman's life on both sides of the border.
As someone who thinks a lot about how to ethically and responsibly tell stories of people who have marginalized identities, I appreciated Bobrow-Strain's explanation of his deeply collaborative work with Aida and her family. This book will serve as a model for me and shows me that it is possible to be a writer who accountable to--and building power with-- a community.
It's amazing how much life this book contains, in addition to factual information. I recommend this book to anyone curious to learn more about the effects of US-Mexico border policies, cycles of trauma, relationships between women, or state violence.
The book refused the good-bad binary that is so often used to support certain model immigrants at the expense of others. Aida's story is gripping, intriguing, funny, sad, joyful, unique, and inspiring--like so many of our lives. I felt palpably through this storytelling that human worth is not conditional. Amid a legal system that relies on cold and technical language, and in a media culture that thrives on sensational stories, I felt incredibly grounded to simply sit and bear witness to Aida's rich and varied life story. It cannot be apolitical.
As someone who thinks a lot about how to ethically and responsibly tell stories of people who have marginalized identities, I appreciated Bobrow-Strain's explanation of his deeply collaborative work with Aida and her family. This book will serve as a model for me and shows me that it is possible to be a writer who accountable to--and building power with-- a community.
It's amazing how much life this book contains, in addition to factual information. I recommend this book to anyone curious to learn more about the effects of US-Mexico border policies, cycles of trauma, relationships between women, or state violence.
The book refused the good-bad binary that is so often used to support certain model immigrants at the expense of others. Aida's story is gripping, intriguing, funny, sad, joyful, unique, and inspiring--like so many of our lives. I felt palpably through this storytelling that human worth is not conditional. Amid a legal system that relies on cold and technical language, and in a media culture that thrives on sensational stories, I felt incredibly grounded to simply sit and bear witness to Aida's rich and varied life story. It cannot be apolitical.
June 6, 2021
If I could rate this book more than 5 stars, I would.
I could not put it down. I loved how it weaves Aida's story with a backdrop of immigration law, policy, and politics. As it says in the afterward, the book is "not really about Aida Hernandez. It is a story told in collaboration with Aida about the brutal consequences of policies she was, in Audre Lorde's poetic language, 'never meant to survive.'" (350). I've never read a book that so clearly demonstrates the real-world effects of policy on a person's individual circumstances.
Having lived in Tucson from 2009-2013, and Sonora from 2013-2014, this book also resonated with me because I recognized so many of the locations, but also realized how unaware I was of everything that was happening around me while I lived there. I went sky-diving in Eloy while Aida was in detention there. I crossed the border to Naco every month, just 30 minutes away from Agua Prieta. I've also been to Quito and San Salvador, so the portions of Ema's story were very vivid to me as well. This book reframed a lot of my memories from those times in my life.
I could not put it down. I loved how it weaves Aida's story with a backdrop of immigration law, policy, and politics. As it says in the afterward, the book is "not really about Aida Hernandez. It is a story told in collaboration with Aida about the brutal consequences of policies she was, in Audre Lorde's poetic language, 'never meant to survive.'" (350). I've never read a book that so clearly demonstrates the real-world effects of policy on a person's individual circumstances.
Having lived in Tucson from 2009-2013, and Sonora from 2013-2014, this book also resonated with me because I recognized so many of the locations, but also realized how unaware I was of everything that was happening around me while I lived there. I went sky-diving in Eloy while Aida was in detention there. I crossed the border to Naco every month, just 30 minutes away from Agua Prieta. I've also been to Quito and San Salvador, so the portions of Ema's story were very vivid to me as well. This book reframed a lot of my memories from those times in my life.
October 12, 2021
This book meant a lot to me. My husband’s family were legal immigrants in the 50’s. However my father in law came to the US in the 1920s as a small child. He was led to believe he was a US citizen and was shocked when he was forced as a teenager back to Mexico. Nevertheless he lived in Agra Prieta, got a job in Douglas and was encouraged by his employer to immigrate. My husband was the first in his family to be born a US citizen. He grew up In Douglas and even worked briefly in the smelter. Working there encouraged him to finish college. We have discussed immigration so many times and how it has changed. The author did a fantastic job writing a compelling story but also informing us of the issues.
May 9, 2021
The death and life of Aida Hernandez is a book that all should read. I recently read a book that had a review stating that anyone thinks building a wall is the answer needs to read this book. No they need to read this book. The complexity’s of immigration laws, no one wants to entertain the thought of conditions of detention centers. The high statics of illegals being abused- and unable to call police for fear of deportation. The income that came into border towns from Mexico. Will pass on this book.
April 23, 2024
A very readable portrait of one woman trying to become a US citizen at the southern border. One thing that really stuck with me was from the very end, when the author stated that the immigration system is not broken, as some claim, but rather it works exactly as it is designed to. Despite the lack of humanity in the system, some people are getting exactly what they want and others are getting very rich. A worthwhile read.
April 7, 2020
Wow. Just wow. This was one of the most engrossing nonfiction books I've read in forever. It was very hard to put down. So well-written, so fascinating and horrible and wonderful all at the same time. Bobrow-Strain is an amazing writer. I'd read anything he writes.
October 28, 2020
This book was amazing. Well-written, gripping, and responsibly done. An eye-opening view of what it is like to live on the border and how violence factors into the lives of undocumented women. I appreciated that he didn't write Aida as a victim or a criminal, but as a person, imperfect and bright and human, struggling against a system she is not meant to survive. The enormity of the trauma that we have inflicted, as a country, on the millions of people caught up in the immigration system is astounding. It should bring shame to the heart of every person who contributes to it. It should bring shame to the heart of every American-born citizen who has ever benefited from it, directly or indirectly. And it needs to change. Violence begets violence; trauma is a cycle; children are punished for the mistakes of their parents; and it continues, through the years, infecting our society like a poison. When will we have the moral courage to do what it takes to end it?
August 22, 2023
The book describes the challenges at the Mexican border crossing at Agua Prieta, Mexico/Douglas, AZ referring back to the early 1900's. It blends the copper smelting history of those towns with the legal history of immigration through the years into the current century fiction story of Aida Hernandez who grew up in both towns. While the U.S. immigration laws have not always been equitable, Mexico's poverty and lack of education played a large part in the plight of many Mexicans, as did failure to address domestic abuse and birth control education in the society. The book includes a lot of senator names and legal names of immigration laws. The book would follow a character or situation from the early 1900s to current time, and then switch to another topic and do the same. So sometimes it was not easy to follow. Reading it may have been easier to see the space between chapters and know it was changing topics.
The gist of the book is, "Something needs to be done", but I believe it is not just reforming the immigration laws. Mexico society can do their their part by addressing poverty, education, domestic abuse and birth control education.
But wait, there is another part of the book that covers the rest of Aida's life and the struggles it took her to get to live in the U.S. with her son. It also introduces an Honduran character Emma with the same struggles.
The gist of the book is, "Something needs to be done", but I believe it is not just reforming the immigration laws. Mexico society can do their their part by addressing poverty, education, domestic abuse and birth control education.
But wait, there is another part of the book that covers the rest of Aida's life and the struggles it took her to get to live in the U.S. with her son. It also introduces an Honduran character Emma with the same struggles.
January 6, 2020
Devastating, important, and yet hopeful.
October 29, 2020
Undocumented immigrant experience, exploration of American immigration laws
December 19, 2023
Compelling, essential.
It’s rare that the Epilogue and About this Book so greatly enrich an already powerful story.
It’s rare that the Epilogue and About this Book so greatly enrich an already powerful story.
October 17, 2019
Aida Hernandez, her story and the trials of her family offer a stark and harrowing representation of the experiences of children brought into the US illegally, the immigration system in our country and the fear, pain sacrifice and trauma visited upon immigrant women in particular. This is real life.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews