It’s sobering to see so few comments yet but I’m hoping it’s just a result of it being a weekend.
The coverage of the brutal ‘ICE’ raids (I put that in quotes becuz I’m 99% positive most of them are bounty hunters being paid by the pick-up… 😞) disturbs me constantly. I know my tax dollars are paying for this but I DID NOT vote for this and I don’t support this AT ALL. Most of us didn’t (?). And yet, we are trapped in this timeline. Every option to respond feels weak and impotent.
And when they talk of ‘indefinite detentions’, why is that on the table? Is that not just a different term for concentration camps?😡
I’m sorry to all the people and families who are caught up in this shit show. ❤️
Thank you for this conversation! I am not an immigrant but my kids go to a school where the majority of families are. I think the framing is this as a game is spot on, because it’s so arbitrary but also the rules can change everything.
One thing that seems very different this time around is the ways that people who are in the asylum process are being targeted and even deported when they show up for their check-in appointments (you can also get deported if you DON’T show up). So they’re not really “undocumented,” they’re following the rules that have been laid out for them but the rules have changed and they’re suddenly unsafe, and ICE knows exactly where they are. It’s terrifying and traumatizing.
I hope anyone with the privilege of not being an immigrant right now is building relationships of support work immigrants in their lives and helping with even small things. Offer to give them a ride home to avoid public transit, deliver food, help make emergency plans in case a family member is detained. Solidarity is what we need now more than ever.
Watching what Trump is doing to undocumented workers is horrifying. I live in Canada but I worked for the WIC program in California for 18 months at the start of my career and most of our clients were undocumented. Hearing the stories of what they’d fled from in their home country and how they were routinely abused in the US just broke my heart. I burned out after 18 months and moved back to Canada, grateful for my privilege to do so. I appreciate Alix’s willingness to share her story.
This was terrifying and fascinating. I was under the impression that ICE wasn't that active in my community - until yesterday, when I spoke with a former colleague in local gov't, who disabused me of that notion. They're here, they're just not as flashy as some other places around the country. Like others in the comments, I feel infuriated to know that. Thank you to the authors and AHP for speaking out on this, especially the part about what folks with citizenship can do to protect our immigrant neighbors.
Thank you for bringing my attention to what looks like an amazing book. I'm exploring whether it can be ordered as a multi-user e-book for my university's library and if so, I will use it this fall and next spring as a textbook int two different classes. Then again, maybe I'll still use it even if we can't get it for the library: students would just have to purchase their own copy.
I've been trying to find a way to do research like this for years... In my experience, academia generally discourages the value of individual/personal histories as a way of learning about social, cultural and economic issues. It's like the moment we have a PhD, we forget how much our understanding and empathy have been shaped by stories. I've been using novels for decades as the next best option, but this kind of book is exactly what I have been looking for.
Amazing- do you have a list? I teach middle schoolers (social studies/history) but I’m always looking for novels that can teach empathy and compassion for ‘others’ in our history. I pre read everything to make sure it’s not too much for their age, and sometimes I just take small pieces and read them out loud.
I live in the East Bay California. I am reaching out to undocumented immigrants in my area to see what I can do to support them. Am I naïve even thinking that folks are much safer here and that my support would be better spent trying to find ways to support people in South Carolina, where I’m from? What are ideas for finding mutual aid networks and other ways to support in other states, where there is less state resistance to ICE and Trump’s efforts?
Just put a hold on this at my library. Says there's a 16-week wait, which hopefully means it's in demand! I have nothing significant to contribute to the conversation, other than to say that all of this makes me profoundly sad and angry. We are truly in the darkest timeline.
I will definitely need to read this book! I live in a very liberal state but already in our town, there have been ICE kidnappings… there are many kids who are not going to school because they’re scared. The human cost starts very young, and it’s horrible.
Like Dee, I am dreading reading this book but I know that I need to. ICE is a big presence in my community because my state is very agricultural: they are going onto farms and literally taking people away while they work. The cruelty is almost unimaginable, yet we must imagine it (and clearly) because it is REAL.
So incredibly grateful to learn this book exists. Can’t wait to read it.
I’m heartbroken and disgusted by what’s happening and that there is such tremendous apathy when people’s lives are being arbitrarily, cruelly torn apart.
It’s sobering to see so few comments yet but I’m hoping it’s just a result of it being a weekend.
The coverage of the brutal ‘ICE’ raids (I put that in quotes becuz I’m 99% positive most of them are bounty hunters being paid by the pick-up… 😞) disturbs me constantly. I know my tax dollars are paying for this but I DID NOT vote for this and I don’t support this AT ALL. Most of us didn’t (?). And yet, we are trapped in this timeline. Every option to respond feels weak and impotent.
And when they talk of ‘indefinite detentions’, why is that on the table? Is that not just a different term for concentration camps?😡
I’m sorry to all the people and families who are caught up in this shit show. ❤️
Thank you for this conversation! I am not an immigrant but my kids go to a school where the majority of families are. I think the framing is this as a game is spot on, because it’s so arbitrary but also the rules can change everything.
One thing that seems very different this time around is the ways that people who are in the asylum process are being targeted and even deported when they show up for their check-in appointments (you can also get deported if you DON’T show up). So they’re not really “undocumented,” they’re following the rules that have been laid out for them but the rules have changed and they’re suddenly unsafe, and ICE knows exactly where they are. It’s terrifying and traumatizing.
I hope anyone with the privilege of not being an immigrant right now is building relationships of support work immigrants in their lives and helping with even small things. Offer to give them a ride home to avoid public transit, deliver food, help make emergency plans in case a family member is detained. Solidarity is what we need now more than ever.
Watching what Trump is doing to undocumented workers is horrifying. I live in Canada but I worked for the WIC program in California for 18 months at the start of my career and most of our clients were undocumented. Hearing the stories of what they’d fled from in their home country and how they were routinely abused in the US just broke my heart. I burned out after 18 months and moved back to Canada, grateful for my privilege to do so. I appreciate Alix’s willingness to share her story.
This was terrifying and fascinating. I was under the impression that ICE wasn't that active in my community - until yesterday, when I spoke with a former colleague in local gov't, who disabused me of that notion. They're here, they're just not as flashy as some other places around the country. Like others in the comments, I feel infuriated to know that. Thank you to the authors and AHP for speaking out on this, especially the part about what folks with citizenship can do to protect our immigrant neighbors.
Thank you for bringing my attention to what looks like an amazing book. I'm exploring whether it can be ordered as a multi-user e-book for my university's library and if so, I will use it this fall and next spring as a textbook int two different classes. Then again, maybe I'll still use it even if we can't get it for the library: students would just have to purchase their own copy.
I've been trying to find a way to do research like this for years... In my experience, academia generally discourages the value of individual/personal histories as a way of learning about social, cultural and economic issues. It's like the moment we have a PhD, we forget how much our understanding and empathy have been shaped by stories. I've been using novels for decades as the next best option, but this kind of book is exactly what I have been looking for.
Academia is almost always reluctant to evolve its practices. Appreciate people like you trying to find ways to push forward.
Amazing- do you have a list? I teach middle schoolers (social studies/history) but I’m always looking for novels that can teach empathy and compassion for ‘others’ in our history. I pre read everything to make sure it’s not too much for their age, and sometimes I just take small pieces and read them out loud.
Thank you for bringing this book to our attention! Adding it to my TBR.
I live in the East Bay California. I am reaching out to undocumented immigrants in my area to see what I can do to support them. Am I naïve even thinking that folks are much safer here and that my support would be better spent trying to find ways to support people in South Carolina, where I’m from? What are ideas for finding mutual aid networks and other ways to support in other states, where there is less state resistance to ICE and Trump’s efforts?
Just put a hold on this at my library. Says there's a 16-week wait, which hopefully means it's in demand! I have nothing significant to contribute to the conversation, other than to say that all of this makes me profoundly sad and angry. We are truly in the darkest timeline.
I will definitely need to read this book! I live in a very liberal state but already in our town, there have been ICE kidnappings… there are many kids who are not going to school because they’re scared. The human cost starts very young, and it’s horrible.
A consistent reminder that we need to put a more human lens on immigration. Thank you for this post!
Powerful and gut wrenching. Thank you.
Thank you for this work, and for the bravery of telling your story.
Great interview. I’m not from the US and I don’t live there, so that was very enlightening! Thank you
Like Dee, I am dreading reading this book but I know that I need to. ICE is a big presence in my community because my state is very agricultural: they are going onto farms and literally taking people away while they work. The cruelty is almost unimaginable, yet we must imagine it (and clearly) because it is REAL.
So incredibly grateful to learn this book exists. Can’t wait to read it.
I’m heartbroken and disgusted by what’s happening and that there is such tremendous apathy when people’s lives are being arbitrarily, cruelly torn apart.