The Line Becomes a River meets Tell Me How It Ends in this book about translation, storytelling, and borders as understood through the United States' "immigration crisis." Alejandra Oliva is Mexican American, her family lineage defined by a long and fluid relationship with the border between Texas and Mexico, each generation born on opposite sides of the Rio Grande. A translator advocating for Latin American migrants seeking asylum and American citizenship, Oliva knows all too well the gravity of taking someone's trauma and delivering it in the warped form the immigration system demands. In Rivermouth, Oliva focuses on the physical spaces that make up different phases of immigration and looks at how language and opportunity move through each of them. From the river as the waterway that separates the United States and Mexico, to the table as the place over which Oliva prepares asylum seekers for their Credible Fear Interviews, and finally, to the wall as the behemoth imposition that runs along America's southernmost border. With lush prose and perceptive insight, Oliva encourages readers to approach the painful questions that this crisis poses with equal parts critique and compassion. By which metrics are we measuring who "deserves" American citizenship? What is the point of humanitarian systems that dole out aid distributed conditionally? What do we owe to our most disenfranchised? Rivermouth is an argument for porosity. Not just for porous borders and a decriminalization of immigration, but for a more open sense of what we owe one another and a willingness to extend radical empathy. As concrete as she is meditative, sharp as she is lyrical, and incisive as she is literary, Oliva argues for a better world while telling us why it's worth fighting to get there.

A clear and concise A-to-Z of keywords that echo our current human rights crisis As millions are forced to leave their nations of origin as a result of political, economic, and environmental peril, rising racism and xenophobia have led to increasingly harsh policies. A mass-mediated political circus obscures both histories of migration and longstanding definitions of words for people on the move, fomenting widespread linguistic confusion. Under this circus tent, there is no regard for history, legal advocacy, or jurisprudence. Yet in a world where the differences between "undocumented migrant" and "asylum seeker" can mean life or death, words have weighty consequences. A timely antidote to this circus, A is for Asylum Seeker reframes key words that describe people on the move. Written to correct the de-meaning of terms by rhetoric and policies based on dehumanization and profitable incarceration, this glossary provides an intersectional and historically grounded consideration of the words deployed in enflamed debate. Skipping some letters of the alphabet while repeating others, thirty terms cover everything from Asylum-seeker to Zero Tolerance Policy. Each entry begins with a contemporary or historical story for illustration and then proceeds to discuss the language politics of the word. The book balances terms affected by current political debates-such as "migrant," "refugee," and "illegal alien"-and terms that offer historical context to these controversies, such as "fugitive," "unhoused," and "vagrant." Rendered in both English and Spanish, this book offers a unique perspective on the journeys, histories, challenges, and aspirations of people on the move. Enhancing the book's utility as an educational and organizing resource, the author provides a list of works for further reading as well as a directory of immigration-advocacy organizations throughout the United States. ***** Un claro y breve abecedario de palabras clave que hacen eco en nuestra crisis humanitaria presente. Mientras millones son forzados de huir de sus naciones de origen debido a peligro politico, economico, y ecologico, racismo y xenofobia han llevado a politicas mas y mas severas. Un circo politico en los medios oculta a ambas las historias de inmigracion y las definiciones antiguas de palabras para personas en movimiento, creando confusion linguistica amplia. Bajo esta carpa de circo, no hay consideracion para historia, defensa legal, o jurisprudencia. Pero en un mundo donde las diferencias entre "migrante indocumentade" y "solicitante de asilo" pueden ser la diferencia entre vida y muerte, palabras tienen consecuencias graves. Un antidoto oportuno a este circo, A de Asilo re-enmarca palabras claves que describen a personas en movimiento. Escrito para corregir la de-significacion de terminos por retorica y politicas basadas en deshumanizacion y encarcelacion lucrosa, este glosario provee una consideracion interseccional e historica de las palabras usadas en debate inflamado. Brincando a unas letras del alfabeto mientras repite a otras, treinta terminos cubren todo desde Asilo a Tolerancia Cero. Cada articulo empieza con una historia contemporanea u historica para ilustrar, y despues discute la politica alrededor de la palabra. El libro balancea terminos impactados por debates politicos contemporaneos-como "migrante," "refugiado" y "extranjero ilegal"-y terminos que ofrecen contexto historico a estas controversias, como "fugitivo" "sin casa" y "vagante." Escrito en ingles y espanol, este libro ofrece una perspectiva unica en las jornadas, historias, retos, y aspiraciones de personas en movimiento. Aumentando la utilidad del libro como un recurso educacional y organizacional, la autora provee una lista de obras para mas lectura, igual que un directorio de organizaciones de defensa de inmigrantes a traves de los Estados Unidos.