Family Separation and the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis

December 1, 2020
Illegal immigration across the U.S.-Mexico border has long been a contentious issue. This volume of ABC-CLIO's 21st-Century Turning Points series is a general reference work designed for high school students, undergraduates, and the general public to help them understand the origins and ongoing conflict surrounding the Trump administration's policy of separating families that cross this border together. The family separation policy is scrutinized with regard to formulation, implementation, and consequences. Included is background material about the people who champion it (e.g., Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller), abhor it (e.g., U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez), and endure it. This engaging text includes tremendous amounts of historical, legal, and political context, plus many thought-provoking extras likely to stimulate classroom discussion. Hillstrom quotes, for example, an historian's droll observation that ""the first Mexicans to become part of the United States never crossed any border""; rather, ""the border crossed them," referring to the annexation of the Republic of Texas in 1845. Family Separation and the U.S.-Mexico Border Crisis is confidently recommended for its intended audience.

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Starred review from January 1, 2021

Hillstrom (Black Lives Matter: From a Moment to a Movement) explores policies at the U.S.-Mexico border that call for families to be separated and children to be detained. The sometimes distressing, but dispassionately presented material is organized into four sections: an overview (of U.S. immigration generally); notable events, impacts, and profiles (of a pediatrician and politicians Stephen Miller, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Donald Trump, but not of any individuals directly affected by separations), followed by resources and an index. There is some useful repetition, which means that sections can be read individually. The author dutifully cites various political views, but the overwhelming bulk of evidence paints a picture of cruelty, bigotry, physical and psychological harm, human rights violations, and damage--to the United States as well as to migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees. Although this work was published before revelations that the parents of 545 separated children still cannot be located and that other children were sent to Mexico rather than to their home countries, there is enough here to cast a lengthy shadow over America's reputation. VERDICT To understand this period and the impact of nativist, white supremacist movements, Hillstrom's account (wider-ranging than the title indicates) with its extensive sources offers readers essential background and an objective, substantiated perspective.--Patricia D. Lothrop, formerly of St. George's Sch., Newport, RI

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