Locally, people are rallying in support, as is the ACLU nevertheless, even with community and legal support, and even as a DACA recipient, he is not safe. Just yesterday, in my own community, ICE officers detained a DACA recipient - one of our former students - without a warrant, a man who organizes a food pantry for low-income families, coaches soccer, volunteers at his church and community. If you've read her fiction, you know she's a brilliant writer, but this is something more it's gut-wrenching, of course, but it's also a reminder that we don't have any time to lose, and that even our small acts of compassion are crucial.
The 40 questions from the title are those Luiselli asks of detained children as a volunteer interpreter in federal immigration courts, and she uses this structure to give a concise, impassioned plea for us to recognize these children for what they are - refugees fleeing unimaginable violence, violence the US has had a significant hand in creating and inflaming. I wish I could force every person who chants "build a wall" or asks "why can't they just come here legally" to read this book. “It is perhaps not the American Dream they pursue, but rather the more modest aspiration to wake up from the nightmare into which they were born." TELL ME HOW IT ENDS is a great primer to a harrowing reality, and though I didn't come out of it with any greater understanding of what future policy should look like, I think it could do a lot of good if it reaches a wider audience. The ending is particularly strong on the human level, though it's apparent that Trump's election shifted the aim of the essay after the fact (a passionate coda is tacked onto the end, but I wish (understanding this probably wasn't possible) that she'd gone back through and adjusted some earlier sections accordingly). The goal is less about making an argument and more about trying to re-shift the grounds of discussion by breaking down the dangers and indignities of the process. Luiselli, who's an excellent writer (though emotion veers in and out of this piece in unusual cadence), has worked in the federal immigration system as a translator and cannily structures the essay around the 40 questions that she asked children when trying to pair them with a lawyer. Sharp, short essay that shines a light on how America treats undocumented children.
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