The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story

In this merger of “journalistic nonfiction and ethnography,” politics professor Bobrow-Strain narrates the story of Aida Hernandez, who grew up an undocumented immigrant in Douglas, Ariz.; married and had a child with an American citizen; was deported in 2008 to Mexico at age 20; and, not long after, returned to the U.S. in an ambulance after she was stabbed and left for dead by a stranger. After the stabbing, Hernandez developed PTSD, exacerbated by fears she’d be deported and separated from her son again. Four years later, she was arrested for misdemeanor theft and spent 10 months in the Eloy Immigration Detention Center before getting a green card. Interwoven with Aida’s story are those of her father, a former socialist revolutionary; Rosie Mendoza, a former undocumented immigrant who became Aida’s social worker; and the twin border towns, Douglas and Agua Prieta, Mexico. Bobrow-Strain draws from dozens of interviews with the principal actors in the story, including four years of collaboration with Hernandez, providing him an insider’s perspective that elevates the narrative above simple reportage. This is a riveting and distressing account of one woman’s immigration nightmare, and a well-researched argument against the status quo in border security. (Apr.)