With all the talk about what is going on at our borders, this book is packed with good information to give everyone the facts on the situation.

This was such an eye opening read for an Australian! Our border systems compared to America are so different so to be able to read about what happens at the American borders is definitely an interesting and worthy read for anyone world wide! Great storyline, plot and very informative. I appreciate being able to have the opportunity of reading this and look forward to seeing it published.

Sadly enough this book was not what I was expecting it to be based on the description and tags...

It very offhandedly mentions the author being a priest in the description, but it's not labeled as a religious book. It doesn't have the tag Christian either when I feel like it really should have.
I know the authors religion is not the focus of the book, but when it is mentioned every two sentences, it definitely should be labeled as a religious book. Mainly so that people like me, with a bunch of religious trauma, don't accidentally request it.

I tried to continue this book, I made it about 25% in, but it was just too religious for me to personally be comfortable with.
I'm sure other people will like this book tho and will learn a lot from it. I wish I could as well.

Recommend this book to anyone wishing to read about this subject from a religious standpoint!

Ps: This is not a negative review at all. The author has good intensions I'm sure, the book was just mislabeled on the site which caused someone like me to pick it up. No hate to the author or netgalley, mistakes happen. I didn't get too triggered by the religious content in this book so I'm okay.
Once again, not a negative review, I'm sure this is a good book. Just not for me personally.

Heartbreaking stories of individual struggles to find safe spaces to live and raise your family. The heavy emphasis on her perspective as a priest may limit the scope of her audience.

I don’t think most people understand the immigration system. It is and always has been legal for immigrants to seek asylum in the US, but it has become more and more difficult for people to seek safety and that is a shame. This is a true account of what happens on the ground at the Mexico-US border, written by a priest who tried to aid those who were seeking asylum. It is a brutally honest account of the horrors and tragedies some of these people encountered.

Everyone should read this book. It is eye-opening, tragic and horrifying. It is written with an honesty rarely seen these days. Thank you, NetGalley and Broadleaf Books for the eARC.

It was surreal to be reading this book on January 20th.

People who are outraged about immigration and undocumented folks often say, “They should just come here legally.” I am not an immigration expert, but I do know some things! I know that it is very difficult to immigrate legally. We are one of the least generous countries when it comes to immigration, and while Congress could change that, they have refused to do so (yay xenophobia). At the same time, our country relies on the labor of undocumented people, some of whom were recruited here to work. We are exploiting people and then blaming them for our problems.

But like I said, I am not an immigration expert so one of the things I am working on in 2025 is learning more about immigration. I had the chance to read this book that is coming out in March, and I am so glad I did. In it, Cristina Rathbone, a priest, spent a year at our southern border with asylum seekers. If you saw the videos of people at the border weeping when their appointments were canceled, this is where she was. It is not illegal to seek asylum. It is clear in the book that we aren’t even following our own laws when it comes to asylum - those seeking asylum are constantly being told that America is full. And now, of course, it appears that asylum is ended. The stories that she hears and the strength and despair she bears witness to broke my heart open. Her work was so valuable and so draining, and she helps remind the reader of the ways that these numbers and groups of people are individuals with stories.

This is a wonderful book - she is an excellent writer and these are people and stories we should all care about. Her faith reflections are woven in skillfully and without being sentimental. Highly recommended.

An honest account of Mexican men, women, and children trying to gain asylum in the U.S. from a priest on the ground. She listens and tries to help doing whatever she can. Frustration with the
U. S. guards and soldiers and the corruption she sees within the system is shocking and inhumane.

Cristina Rathbone writes with compassion about the people trying to cross over into the U.S. Their stories about the violence they experienced are almost too much for her to bear. She relies on her faith and prayer to continue her work.

This is a memoir everyone should read to understand what happens at the U.S.-Mexico border fully.

Cristina Rathbone’s The Asylum Seekers is a harrowing and deeply human account of life at the US-Mexico border, where hope, resilience, and unimaginable hardship converge. Rathbone, an award-winning journalist and Episcopal priest, brings her unique background to Juarez, weaving intimate portraits of asylum seekers with reflections on faith and the resilience of the human spirit.

Rathbone, who has previously offered powerful insights into life in schools and prisons, turned to the cloth and now pastors unhoused families in the Northeast. Her dual perspective as a journalist and spiritual leader infuses the narrative with compassion and clarity. In The Asylum Seekers, she chronicles life in a makeshift tent camp at the foot of a bridge, where families fleeing trauma risk everything to seek asylum. Amid the chaos of families arriving, departing, and sometimes being forcibly returned, Rathbone captures both the despair and the beauty of a community determined to survive. She writes of grief-stricken parents, children playing in perilous conditions, and the haunting stories of those mourning unimaginable loss.

Yet, Rathbone also highlights the strength and ingenuity of the asylum seekers. Over time, a leadership team emerges, donations are distributed, and even classes for children begin. As an unofficial chaplain, Rathbone listens, supports, and learns what authentic faith looks like under these extreme conditions.

Drawing on her personal connection—her mother was a Cuban refugee—Rathbone weaves the intimate stories of asylum seekers with broader reflections on community, endurance, and the moral obligations we owe one another.

#broadleafbooks #theasylumseekers #cristinarathbone

This was an eye opening book about Rathbone's experience at the Mexico-US border before the pandemic. These pages are full of sadness, frustration and despair, but also hope, love, and community. I don't think any of us have any understanding of what this process is like if we have never witnessed it and been a part of it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this book.

The Asylum Seekers by Cristina Rathbone is an eye opening, intimate and honest narrative of life, community, family and endurance at the US-Mexico border. Cristina Rathbone is an award winning journalist and priest who in 2019 traveled to Juarez in order to learn and experience the conditions at the border where families and individuals have fled from trauma and hardship in order to seek asylum. It is a heartbreaking and powerful read as we learn about the stories of families, communities, the young and old who arrive and leave at the border as asylum is denied and granted with no specific reason or system. It is also an exploration of faith and its meaning in such hardship and how it can be a connection with others in need of help and support. It is astonishing how people who have experienced the worst of violence and trauma are able to hold onto their humanity, their compassion, curiosity and love for others as a community grows along the border and leaders emerge to aid others who are suffering and being exploited. It is a necessary and vital read that examines the social, political and humanitarian factors that impact the lives of those who seek to enter the US legally and who often suffer the consequences of changing policies and practices that deny the desperately sought and warranted sanctuary. A powerful honest portrait of faith and asylum that asks for how long can we look away? 4.25 Stars ✨

I thought this was good, and it was interesting to learn about what is going on at the border. The disappointments I had with the book were not really the author's fault - the religious Christian language did not resonate with me, and I wanted more in-depth profiles of some of the families in Juarez. This wasn't really possible because the families didn't stay long, and she did a good job portraying the general situation, especially the strength and spirit of the children.