Solito, Solita

Crossing Borders with Youth Refugees from Central America

Steven Mayers, Jonathan Freedman, Steven Mayers, Jonathan Freedman

• Publisher: Haymarket Books
• Year: 2019
• Print ISBN:
  9781608466184
  9781608466221
• eBook ISBN:
  9781608466207
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Global Politics
• Index: Social Sciences

They are a mass migration of thousands, yet each one travels alone. 

Solito, Solita (Alone, Alone), shortlisted for the 2019 Juan E. Méndez Book Award for Human Rights in Latin America, is an urgent collection of oral histories that tells—in their own words—the story of young refugees fleeing countries in Central America and traveling for hundreds of miles to seek safety and protection in the United States.

Fifteen narrators describe why they fled their homes, what happened on their dangerous journeys through Mexico, how they crossed the borders, and for some, their ongoing struggles to survive in the United States. In an era of fear, xenophobia, and outright lies, these stories amplify the compelling voices of migrant youth. What can they teach us about abuse and abandonment, bravery and resilience, hypocrisy and hope? They bring us into their hearts and onto streets filled with the lure of freedom and fraught with violence. From fending off kidnappers with knives and being locked in freezing holding cells to tearful reunions with parents, Solito, Solita's narrators bring to light the experiences of young people struggling for a better life across the border.

This collection includes the story of Adrián, from Guatemala City, whose mother was shot to death before his eyes. He refused to join a gang, rode across Mexico atop cargo trains, crossed the US border as a minor, and was handcuffed and thrown into ICE detention on his eighteenth birthday. We hear the story of Rosa, a Salvadoran mother fighting to save her life as well as her daughter's after death squads threatened her family. Together they trekked through the jungles on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, where masked men assaulted them. We also meet Gabriel, who after surviving sexual abuse starting at the age of eight fled to the United States, and through study, legal support and work, is now attending UC Berkeley.

Download the corresponding lesson plans on the Voice of Witness website.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword, by Javier Zamora
• Introduction, by Steven Mayers and Jonathan Freedman
• Executive editor’s note, by Mimi Lok
• Map of Migration routes through Mexico, 2016
• Soledad Castillo, Honduras: “Nobody wanted me.”
• Josué Nieves, El Salvador: “One day, I want to be like my father.”
• Gabriel Méndez, Honduras: “I was made to do things I didn’t want to do.”
• Jhony Chuc, Guatemala: “You ride on top of the Beast and are totally exposed.”
• Noemi Tun, Guatemala: “People fought over land and water.”
• Isabel Vásquez, El Salvador: “Before, a village like ours was so beautiful, and suddenly things were ruined.”
• Danelia Silva, El Salvador: “He’d break down doors and come through the windows, or, if not, from the roof, up the fire escape.”
• Adrián Cruz, Guatemala: “I was solito, solito. I decided to cross by myself.”
• Pedro Hernandez, Guatemala: “The US immigration police herded us into cars and drove us to la hielera, the freezer.”
• Cristhian Molina, Honduras: “For eighteen years I’ve wandered from the bottom to the top of North America, trying to change my life.”
• Rosa Cuevas, El Salvador: “We walked for days, through the jungle, risking our lives, not meeting anyone.”
• Ernesto González, Honduras: “I’m the only one still alive.”
• Julio Zavala, Honduras: “When I slept, there were cameras on four sides.”
• Ismael Xol, Guatemala: “Maybe I’ll transfer to the university next year as planned, or maybe I’ll be deported back to Guatemala.”
• Itzel Tzab, Guatemala: “Only by leaving my studies could I work to pay him back.”
• Ten things you can do
• Historical Timeline
• Glossary
• Appendixes
• Acknowledgments
• Back Cover