Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis

by Jonathan Blitzer

To prepare, they discussed what Obama should say on the topic of granting undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses. As a New York senator, Hillary Clinton, the heavy favorite in the primary, had supported the policy, before reversing herself after a backlash. Obama’s advisers were uneasy about staking out a bold position, but he was not. Muñoz said that there was no substantive reason to oppose the licenses, and when Obama agreed, David Axelrod, his chief political adviser, cast a sharp, sidelong glance her way. “David, I know it’s not what people want to hear, but that might be exactly why we need to say it,” Obama said. The issue never came up at the debate, but Muñoz told herself, “That’s why this is my guy.”