Separated: Inside an American Tragedy

MSNBC correspondent Soboroff examines the origins and ramifications of the Trump administration’s “deliberate and systemic separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents” in his harrowing and deeply informed debut. One of several journalists who brought attention to the family separation controversy after touring a Texas holding facility in 2018, Soboroff sketches the history of “deterrence-based immigration policy” under presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama, and details how Trump’s ire over an increase in migrant detentions led attorney general Jeff Sessions to mandate criminal charges for anyone caught illegally crossing the border. Drawing on interviews with border security agents and White House staffers, Soboroff describes key moments in the decision-making process behind family separation, and punctuates his analysis with excerpts from asylum requests. The story of 12-year-old José and his father, Juan, who fled Guatemala for the U.S. only to be detained for months in separate facilities, is interwoven throughout. Though Trump was forced to back down from his “zero-tolerance” approach to border enforcement, and the issue has since fallen out of the headlines, Soboroff contends that the administration is still causing “immeasurable pain and unexpected suffering” to migrants. He presents a wealth of insider details, balancing his own sense of outrage with dogged reporting and vivid sketches of impacted families. The result is an impassioned, essential account of “one of the most shameful chapters in modern American history.” (July)