Solito by Javier Zamora

2023, Hogarth

In Solito, author Javier Zamora invites us to accompany his 9-year-old self on his journey from El Salvador to the United States, in 1999. He was living with his grandparents, when his parents, who had emigrated earlier, decided it was time for him to make the long and dangerous journey with a coyote (the leader responsible for getting a group of migrants across the border). He knew no one in the group. Written in his 9-year-old voice, his memoir offers us perspective into what migrants go through in search of a better life. El Salvador in the 1990s was rife with war, violence, repression, unemployment and poverty, partly caused and fully exacerbated by the USA's interference in the country's government.

Immigration lawyer Julia (my daughter) recommended this book. We talked about it.

Julia, how did you hear about this book?

It was recommended by a member of my Mutual Aid Group (a group helping migrants in the DC area).

What did you learn?

Due to my work, I'm familiar with what happens after the migrant journey to the USA. Through the book, I learned what happens before.

What did you like about it?

Experiencing firsthand the journey from Central America to the USA that a lot of my clients have been through; and, the humanity of the migrants which permeated the story. The simple writing style was straightforward rather than dramatic, making for lighter reading than I expected considering the traumatic nature of the journey.

I agree the writing style made the story easy to follow, and reading the story was almost refreshing. I admit to occasionally skipping some of the many day-to-day details. I sometimes felt the desire to get to the meat of the story.

I didn't have the same experience. I enjoyed all the details.

You said your grandfather (the late Bruce Prouty, May he rest in peace) read the book and commented that he didn't think it was possible the writer could have remembered all those details, and must have made up at least 10% (he liked statistics!)

Of course there may be some literary license in the details, but Zamora did a lot of trauma therapy work, and said he couldn't have written the book without this help in recovering his memories.

It's not surprising that traumatic memories are retained in more detail in our memories, unless we repress them. This video shows that he also kept a journal of his experiences.

Why should we read this book?

To understand more about migrants. In the news media and elsewhere, they're often talked about in a dehumanizing, negative or at best, patronizing way, but they're just humans like everyone else.

Many Americans disagree with the way ICE and the current administration are treating immigrants right now, but still agree with deporting those who are in the country illegally? What do you think?

The issue is, who are you talking about? If people have a pending asylum application, they shouldn't be deported before the case is heard. Asylum is a human right, recognized internationally after WWII to avoid a repeat of the Holocaust, and in the USA under the Refugee Act of 1980. So I think we have an ethical obligation to let asylum seekers be heard.

Many other immigrants have worked and paid taxes for 20 years, but haven't found options to get their papers because we don't have options to offer them. Some countries offer more options. In France, for example, if you work declared and pay taxes for 10 years, you can apply for permanent resident status. That doesn't exist in the USA. Tons of people have no access. There are many types of visas but there's no one path everyone can follow.

It doesn't make sense, practically or ethically, to deport people who were born in a country where they didn't have a chance.

Most people agree with the deportation of immigrants convicted of violent crimes. What do you say to the argument espoused by Trump and others, that all immigrants are criminals because they're in the USA illegally?

First, that's not true. Lots of people have entered the USA legally. But there's a reason the administration has been trying to equate immigrants with criminals. Most Americans don't agree with deporting hard-working tax-payers who have done nothing wrong, to a prison in El Salvador. But most people do agree that if non-citizens or people without immigration status commit violent crimes, they should be deported. So that's why the Trump administration concentrates on saying that all or most immigrants are criminals. That's their starting point, their talking point. It scares people, and makes it easier to get away with the policies of picking up people in the street and deporting them.

Statistically, immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than citizens. Generally if you immigrate to a country, it's not to commit crimes. Because of this, Trump and his allies can't find enough people who commit violent crimes to deport, so they have to pick up anyone they can find, like someone who had a speeding ticket for example, in order to increase the number of people he can deport.

Separating a mother from her baby is a worse crime than crossing a border in order to keep your baby alive. Sending people without due process to a prison notorious for torture and human trafficking is a worse crime than migrating to another country for a better life. Borders are created by humans. They're arbitrary. Who are we to say where people can go?