Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands

by Sarah B. Towle

Overview

It was family separation and “kids in cages” that drove Sarah Towle to the U.S. southern border. On discovering the many-headed hydra that is the U.S. immigration system—and the heroic determination of those caught under its knee—she could never look away again. Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands charts Sarah’s journey from outrage to activism to abolition as she exposes, layer by “broken” layer, the global deterrence to detention to deportation complex that is failing everyone—save the profiteers and demagogues who benefit from it.

Deftly weaving together oral storytelling, history, and memoir, Sarah illustrates how the U.S. has led the retreat from post-WWII commitments to protecting human rights. Yet within the web of normalized cruelty, she finds hope and inspiration in the extraordinary acts of ordinary people who prove, every day, there is a better way. By amplifying their voices and celebrating their efforts, Sarah reveals that we can welcome with dignity those most in need of safety and compassion. In unmasking the real root causes of the so-called “crisis” in human migration, she urges us to act before we travel much farther down our current course—one which history will not soon forgive, or forget.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647425807
Publisher:	She Writes Press
Publication date:	06/18/2024
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	424
Sales rank:	868,934
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Sarah Towle is an international educator, researcher, and award-winning author; a human rights defender, nature lover, and choral soprano. She resides in an ephemeral borderlands, buffeted and buoyed by a diversity of languages, cultures, landscapes, and creeds. She has taught English language literacy, cross-cultural communication, conflict resolution skills, and the writing craft for three decades on four continents across the age span and in myriad contexts, including under the trees in refugee settings. Crossing the Line: Finding America in the Borderlands, a Nonfiction Authors Association Gold Medal recipient, launched in June 2024 to rave reviews from filmmaker Ken Burns, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Toluse Olorunnipa, former Boston Globe Spotlight editor Scott Allen, and Kirkus Reviews, which called it "A powerful exposé of the human costs of America's immigration policies.” Sarah publishes regularly on Substack@Tales of Humanity. Her op-eds have appeared in the Boston Globe, Common Dreams, and Al Jazeera. Find her podcast, From the Borderlands, wherever you listen. To learn more about both book and author, please visit www.sarahtowle.com.

Editorial Reviews

2024 Nonfiction Book Award: Gold Medal Winner

“Crossing the Line is an expertly written, deeply human expose of the border crisis in the southwestern United States. It brings clarity to a very complicated situation, leaving the reader well-informed on the nature of the crisis from multiple perspectives. It enlightens as much as it devastates . . . . Towle delves deeper into previous American regimes, exposing a system with a weak structure that can be easily manipulated to benefit some while dehumanizing others . . . . With the effect of immigration being felt globally, this should be everyone’s must-read.”—Nonfiction Book Awards, Gold Medal Winner

“Towle’s eye-opening narrative...offers an astute analysis that provides a well-researched overview of the current immigration system..The author’s observation, that merely seeing and documenting the experiences of victims is a ‘subversive act’ powerfully underscores the stories of mothers ripped away from their children, men detained indefinitely without due process during the Covid-19 pandemic that “turned prisons into death traps,” and asylum-seekers returned to the violent battlefields of war-torn countries. A powerful exposé of the human costs of America’s immigration policies.”—Kirkus Reviews

“Simultaneously a searing indictment of inhumane immigration policies and a moving testament to the resilience of the human spirit, Sarah Towle’s Crossing the Line is public-interest storytelling at its finest. A brilliant, engaging, and essential read for anyone seeking a true understanding of America’s borderlands.”
—Toluse Olorunnipa, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

“Sarah Towle has obliterated today’s dead-end arguments about immigration and transformed them into riveting, human stories. We forget that ideas—good and bad—have always crossed our borderlines; only human beings need a piece of paper. We all deserve a narrative with clarity, and Towle's has delivered. Spectacular!”
–Ken Burns, filmmaker

“With Crossing the Line Sarah Towle exposes the relentlessly cruel US immigration system—where people become numbers and disappear for years, even forever—as she restores humanity to an issue currently lost in a blizzard of polarizing ideology and hate. Sarah makes it clear that what is unfolding now is not just Trump-era politics—it’s rooted in American exploitation of our southern neighbors. For anyone who wants to understand the dysfunctional immigration debate beyond slogans,Crossing the Line is an absolute must-read.”
–Scott Allen, Former Editor Boston Globe Spotlight Investigative Team

“A powerful work. Sweeping and majestic, and a striking, flowing synthesis to tell the overall story that needs to be told.”
–Camilo Perez-Bustillo, author of Human Rights, Hegemony, and Utopia in Latin America

“A beautiful book, awesomely reported. What an accomplishment and contribution to this issue. Sarah has written this with great empathy. The focus remains squarely on rehumanizing those most harmed by US immigration policies. The chronology makes the meta-story even more riveting and appalling.”
–Heidi Ostertag, Executive Producer, Oh Mercy—Searching For Hope In The Promised Land for Worldwide Documentaries

“Crossing the Line is a well-researched yet accessible exposé of border policies that harm migrants and undermine the promise of America. From the ‘family separation’ policies of the Trump administration to the massive growth of immigrant detention, Towle’s ability to weave together first-hand stories of accidental activists—including priests, attorneys, and concerned locals—with the broader policy context is on display in an ambitious book infused with a profound commitment to humanity and justice. Every concerned citizen should read this book.”
—Austin Kocher,Research Assistant Professor, Syracuse University

“With a propulsive narrative and an engaging style, Crossing the Line is an important contribution to our understanding of the borderlands, and by extension, America itself.”
–Reece Jones, author of White Borders

“What grace-filled and beautiful writing. Thank you for capturing our community’s story!”
–Dylan Corbett, Executive Director, Hope Border Institute Regional Assistant Coordinator, Vatican Migrants & Refugees Section

“Thanks for lifting up these voices and not relenting. Congratulations on a compelling read.”
—Luz Virginia Lopez, Senior Supervising Attorney, Immigrant Justice Project Southern Poverty Law Center

“Inspiring and transporting from the opening passage. A journey of historical context expertly weaved into the human experience, allows the reader to relate to the current border climate on so many levels. I did not want to stop reading. Abrazos.”
–Elizabeth “Lizee” Cavazos, Angry Tías & Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley

“Absolutely BRILLIANT, a masterpiece! It feels so lonely at times, like no one understands. But Sarah sees us here in the borderlands, flying the tattered flag of this country's ideals are. It touched me deeply.”
–Madeleine Sandefur, Angry Tías & Abuelas of the Rio Grande Valley

“Sometimes you ache for the unvarnished truth. Sarah Towle tells the it in this book – the whole truth, good, bad, and ugly. She speaks for the silent hordes seeking “the lamp beside the golden door” to be opened for them, giving access to the wonder that is America.”
–Merry Hancock, Cameroon Advocacy Network

“Powerful and true. An important historical account.”
–Juan-David Lucio, Team Brownsville

From the Publisher