The asylum seekers A chronicle of life, death, and community at the Border

Priest Rathbone (On the Outside Looking In) paints a heartbreaking portrait of a community of asylum seekers on the U.S.-Mexico border. In 2019, Rathbone left her Boston Episcopalian congregation for Juárez, one of Mexico's most dangerous cities, to help migrants--most of them fleeing threats of torture or death from drug cartels--find refuge in America. Rathbone accompanied families to the border checkpoint in hopes that her presence might help them cross but quickly learned there was little rhyme or reason to who was let through. She also details how the U.S. government's attempts to "streamline" the asylum system have harmed migrants, citing, for example the first Trump administration's Humanitarian Asylum Review Program, which allowed Border Patrol officials--rather than asylum review experts--to perform the interviews determining migrants' eligibility while they were still held in detention centers. Rathbone exposes in riveting detail the humanitarian horrors and government inefficiencies plaguing the border, but also strikes a hopeful note by highlighting the determination of those who help asylum seekers--including an immigration lawyer, a 96-year-old former fighter pilot turned priest, and an 85-year-old nun. This won't be easily forgotten. (Mar.)