Publishers Weekly
04/18/2022
In this powerful debut, human rights lawyer Olivares braids reflections on growing up as a Mexican immigrant with a stirring account of his experience representing immigrant parents separated from their children as a result of the Trump administration’s “zero-tolerance” policy in 2018. In the 1990s, Olivares was separated from his father for four years, when his father migrated to the U.S. But as he points out, his family’s “ ‘privilege’ of choosing to be apart” while his father sought a better life for them in Texas was a starkly different situation from that of the hundreds of immigrant families he fought for in McAllen, Tex., who had their separations forced upon them by the Border Patrol. Bringing their testimonies to the fore alongside searing analyses of America’s immigration policies, Olivares recounts case after case of brutality and desperation, underscoring how “notions of due process, justice, equality before the law, all fall apart at the border.” “This problem that has happened,” said one woman who’d spent weeks apart from her family, “can never be erased.” As Olivares contemplates his own assimilation into American society, he builds an affecting case against the U.S.’s treatment of those with “deeper skins... darker hair,” while humanizing their stories in a brilliant light. This urgent look at an ongoing crisis galvanizes and informs in equal measure. (July)
From the Publisher
"My Boy Will Die of Sorrow is a visceral, behind the scenes account of the human impacts of our immigration system, from the inner machinations at the height of the family separation crisis to the cruelties faced by immigrants and their families every single day. At a time where harrowing immigration headlines dominate our news, this book is an intimate invitation to join Olivares through his firsthand experience as an immigrant and an advocate on the frontlines. It's an invitation every American should be honored to receive, and those who accompany him on this journey will undoubtedly walk away better for it."
—Kerry Kennedy, President of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
“A riveting account of the immigrant’s experience under Zero Tolerance and an inspiring story of the author’s journey from humble beginnings in Mexico to Yale Law to human rights lawyer, My Boy Will Die of Sorrow is probing, necessary, and enlightening. An essential work from an important voice in the national conversation on immigration and human rights.”
—José Antonio Rodríguez, PhD, author of House Built on Ashes
“Everyone should understand the horrors of family separation as told by the man who stood against a wave of crushing atrocities at a defining moment in American history… a heart wrenching account of suffering, loss, and hope.” —Laura Peña, Director of Racial and Economic Justice, the Texas Civil Rights Project
“A captivating, intimate portrayal of one of the human rights crises of our time. My Boy Will Die of Sorrow brings to life the human plight of the men, women and children who make the dangerous journey across borders, which often gets lost in the debates around immigration policies, and tells the moving stories of families caught in what is perhaps the most militarized border of the continent… I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a fresh perspective that goes deep behind the headlines of immigration, borders, and family separation.”—Felipe González Morales, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants
"Efrén Olivares’ My Son Will Die of Sorrow wakes readers from political overwhelm through his warmth and humanity, even as he discusses the deeply tragic events surrounding the Trump administration’s Zero Tolerance policy that separated children from their parents at the U.S. border... the book engenders feelings of hope and galvanized action."—Latino Book Review
“A powerful mix of human rights memoir and examination of America’s flawed immigration policies…[Olivares’s] account includes interviews with immigrants alongside analyses of complicated legal processes and a history of the southern border….A harrowing firsthand account of inhumane immigration policies with which we all must come to terms.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“Part memoir, part exploration of the racism inherent in U.S. immigration policy, and part tribute to the families who have suffered at the hands of the U.S. government, My Boy Will Die of Sorrow is a thought-provoking look at the soul of the United States.” —Booklist
"an informative and gut-wrenching indictment of the state of the U.S. immigration policy. This vital resource and collection of testimonies can serve to keep the recent horrors it depicts from disappearing into the past."—Shelf Awareness
Library Journal
05/01/2022
Olivares, a human rights lawyer and immigration policy expert for the Texas Civil Rights Project, has penned a heartfelt first-person exposé of America's broken immigration system. During the Trump presidency. Olivares aided undocumented immigrants facing federal charges for crossing the Mexican border. He fought to reunite thousands of children separated from their parents at the border and held in often traumatizing conditions at US detention facilities. Olivares alternates between his own story—a Mexican American immigrant and first-generation college student who endured childhood separation from his own father—and the heartbreaking stories of his clients. Especially moving is the story of a father forced to take a DNA test to prove that his little daughter was truly his. The author's compassion is clear, though autobiographical elements can dampen these stories' moral urgency, and the two halves of his narrative do not always cohere. For complementary depth and context, see Separated by Jacob Soboroff and Taking Children by Laura Briggs. VERDICT Readers will appreciate this memoir as a moving firsthand account but also as a call to action to ensure that human rights prevail at America's borders.—Michael Rodriguez
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-03-19
A powerful mix of human rights memoir and examination of America’s flawed immigration policies.
In summer 2018, the Trump administration instituted a heavily restrictive zero tolerance policy that resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents, regardless of their rights as asylum seekers. For Olivares, deputy legal director for the Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant Justice Project and an immigrant from Mexico, this story struck home—literally. The author lives in the Rio Grande Valley, an area saturated with Mexican culture, where the realities of immigration have never been far away. A mixture of poignant legal insight, vivid hometown familiarity, and personal struggle, his account includes interviews with immigrants alongside analyses of complicated legal processes and a history of the southern border. Zero tolerance, Olivares reminds us, is only part of a broader history. While widespread family detention began under Barack Obama, the author traces its origins further back, to racially discriminatory immigration policies as old as the nation itself. As we follow Olivares through his many visits to the U.S. District Court in McAllen, Texas, and conversations with migrant parents, we see the countless shameful obstacles put in their way. In touching and often heartbreaking sections, the author introduces us to a Guatemalan man of Mayan descent who was separated from his daughter and accused of human trafficking for not speaking Spanish well enough; a father who, with instinctive foresight, told his daughter to prepare to be taken away to a "summer camp"; officials from private prison companies MTC and GEO Group, both of which have reaped huge profits from the drama and suffering of migrants; and government officials who mock the cries of separated children, some despite being children of immigrants themselves. Regarding one agent, Olivares writes, “Did he not see himself, or his family, his ancestors who came to this country before he did, in the faces and the cries of these children?”
A harrowing firsthand account of inhumane immigration policies with which we all must come to terms.
