Forced Out: Migrant Mothers in Search of Refuge and Hope

The book "Facing Escalating Chaos and Violence in Their Home Countries, Many Central American Mothers Have Found That a Desperate Flight to the North Was Their Only Choice. If They Made It Across the Border Without Getting Locked Up or Deported, They Entered a Country Increasingly Unwilling to Recognize Claims of Asylum. This Book Features the Stories of Women Who Crossed the Border Without Encountering Immigration Authorities and Settled in the Greater Washington, DC, Area, Living in the Shadows for Years. By Centering on the Voices of the Women Themselves, It Offers an Intimate Look at What Drives Them from Home and the Challenges They Face in Reuniting Years Later with Their Children."

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 216 pages
Publication date: 30 January 2024
Publisher: New York University Press

Faced with escalating chaos and violence in their home countries, many Central American mothers have found that a desperate flight to the north was their only option. In order to spare their children the hardships of the journey, they left their children behind. If they managed to cross the border without being locked up or deported, they entered a country increasingly unwilling to recognize claims of asylum. This book features the stories of women who crossed the border without encountering immigration authorities, in some cases several times, and settled in the greater Washington, DC, area, living in the shadows for years. By centering on the voices of the women themselves, it offers an intimate look at what drove them from home and the challenges they face in reuniting years later with their children.

Forced Out: The Women's Journey to the US explores the women's evolving attitudes toward the violence embedded in institutions and everyday life in their home countries, as well as their continued vulnerability and dependence in the US. It also highlights the challenges they face in parenting children adapting to American society and learning English while living with mothers who had left them years before and become strangers to them. Rather than sensationalizing their trauma or dwelling on their vulnerability, the stories reveal the women's rich, complex inner lives, their resilience in overcoming senseless violence, and their unwavering commitment to bettering their children's lives. Clear, vivid, and impactful, this is a humbling and humane look at the state of migration to America today.

Weight: 345g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781479823536