I must start with the preface that I have never felt like I truly understood much about US immigration policy. I thought I might come out of this book understanding it better. While I definitely learned things from reading this book, I may have ended up more confused than ever. The policies are inconsistent, fickle and seemingly enforced at random. This book was very clearly pro-immigration but I think tried to present most information fairly. A lot of time was spent telling stories of several immigrants and their families. I truly had trouble keeping them straight and felt confused a lot of the time when the book delved into those stories. It alternated between the stories through time while trying to also explain the changes in policies over time. It was a lot. Definitely interesting material, but the organization was lacking and I felt it was a bit long.

This book was really, really well done. Juan Romagoza's story, at the heart of it, is so compelling and elegantly exemplifies the throughlines from the 1980s civil wars to Central American migration today. In its quest to tell the whole story Blitzer takes several detours, all of which I enjoyed but some readers may need to exercise patience with the narrative. It's worth it.