The Dispossessed - A Story of Asylum and the US-Mexican Border and Beyond

"The first comprehensive, in-depth book on the Trump administration's assault on asylum protections. Arnovis couldn't stay in El Salvador. If he didn't leave, a local gangster promised that his family would dress in mourning--that he would wake up with flies in his mouth. "It was like a bomb exploded in my life," Arnovis said. The Dispossessed tells the story of a twenty-four-year-old Salvadoran man, Arnovis, whose family's search for safety shows how the United States--in concert with other Western nations--has gutted asylum protections for the world's most vulnerable. Crisscrossing the border and Central America, John Washington traces one man's quest for asylum. Arnovis is separated from his daughter by US Border Patrol agents and struggles to find security after being repeatedly deported to a gang-ruled community in El Salvador, traumatic experiences relayed by Washington with vivid intensity. Adding historical, literary, and current political context to the discussion of migration today, Washington tells the history of asylum law and practice through ages to the present day. Packed with information and reflection, The Dispossessed is more than a human portrait of those who cross borders--it is an urgent and persuasive case for sharing the country we call home."-- Publisher's website Arnovis couldn't stay in El Salvador. If he didn't leave, a local gangster promised that his family would dress in mourning, that he would wake up with flies in his mouth. "It was like a bomb exploded in my life," Arnovis said. The Dispossessed tells the story of a twenty-four-year-old Salvadoran man, Arnovis, whose family's search for safety shows how the United States - in concert with other Western nations - has gutted asylum protections for the world's most vulnerable. Crisscrossing the border and Central America, John Washington traces one man's quest for asylum. Arnovis is separated from his daughter by US Border Patrol agents and struggles to find security after being repeatedly deported to a gang-ruled community in El Salvador, traumatic experiences relayed by Washington with vivid intensity. Adding historical, literary, and current political context to the discussion of migration today, Washington tells the history of asylum law and practice through ages to the present day. Packed with information and reflection, The Dispossessed is more than a human portrait of those who cross borders - it is an urgent and persuasive case for sharing the country we call home. How US incarceration, immigration, and deportation policies enact a cruel, deadly, and circular punishment "The basic idea of asylum is simple. Someone comes to your door because they are in danger, because they are afraid. You open your door, and you share your roof. But beneath the simplicity lies a labyrinth." The Dispossessed is a detailed, novelistic account of one real family's search for safety that lays bare US—in concert with other western nations—gutting of asylum protections. The narrative takes the reader through the inhumane debacle of family separation and the growing global refugee crisis at large. Adding historical, literary, and current political context to the immigration and refugee crises of today, Washington unearths the ancient origins of hospitality practices and traces the rise of asylum law through the Ancient Greeks, the early religious traditions, the international agreements of the twentieth century, and the unmet... The Dispossessed' tells the story of a twenty-four-year-old Salvadoran man, Arnovis, whose family's search for safety shows how the United States-in concert with other Western nations-has gutted asylum protections for the world's most vulnerable. Crisscrossing the border and Central America, John Washington traces one man's quest for asylum. Arnovis is separated from his daughter by US Border Patrol agents and struggles to find security after being repeatedly deported to a gang-ruled community in El Salvador, traumatic experiences relayed by Washington with vivid intensity.0Adding historical, literary, and current political context to the discussion of migration today, Washington tells the history of asylum law and practice through ages to the present day. Packed with information and reflection, The Dispossessed is more than a human portrait of those who cross borders-it is an urgent and persuasive case for sharing the country we call home The first comprehensive, in-depth book on the Trump administration's assault on asylum protections. The first book to take on the inhumane debacle of family separations. The first book to take stock of the massive changes in US refugee policy. The author relates the experiences of Arnovis, a 24-year-old Salvadoran man in search of asylum, to illustrate the current context and discussion of human migration into the United States, as well as other Western nations