Forced Out - by Susan J Terrio (Paperback)

About the Book

"Central American mothers share their stories about seeking protection in the U.S. as extortion and killing by criminal groups soared, as the abuse and murder of women exploded, and as the rule of law disintegrated in their home countries. They left home to ensure their own survival and to make a future for their children. Increasingly depicted as a national security threat as undocumented migrants, this is the story of their struggle to find a secure foothold in this country"--

Book Synopsis

2024 Outstanding Academic Title, given by Choice Reviews

Features the stories of undocumented mothers who reunite with their children in the US years after fleeing violence at home

Facing escalating chaos and violence in their home countries, many Central American mothers have found that a desperate flight to the north was their only choice. Many left their children behind in order to spare them the hardships of the journey. If they made it across the border without getting locked up or deported, they entered a country increasingly unwilling to recognize claims of asylum.

This book features the stories of women who crossed the border without encountering immigration authorities, in some cases several times, and settled in the greater Washington, DC, area, living in the shadows for years. By centering on the voices of the women themselves, it offers an intimate look at what drove them from home and the challenges they face in reuniting years later with their children.

Forced Out traces the women's evolving attitudes toward the violence embedded in institutions and everyday life in their home countries, as well as their continued vulnerability and dependence in the US. It also highlights the challenges they face in parenting children adapting to American society and learning English while living with mothers who had left them years before and become strangers to them. Rather than sensationalizing their trauma or dwelling on their vulnerability, the stories reveal the women's rich, complex inner lives, their resilience in overcoming senseless violence, and their unswerving commitment to bettering their children's lives. Clear, vivid, and impactful, this is a humbling and humane look at the state of migration to America today.

Review Quotes

"Terrio has masterfully penned a poignant, powerful, and insightful book focused on undocumented mothers who escape detention and try to build lives in the US."-- "CHOICE"

"Clear, vivid, and emotionally impactful. . . . The stories featured are diverse, usefully selected, and revealing. The quality of fieldwork is clear; this sort of intimacy represents a real accomplishment in ethnography."--Josiah Heyman, The University of Texas at El Paso

"Deft storytelling, seasoned legal and anthropological understanding, and an unflinching moral compass--these are some of the attributes that make Susan Terrio's probing study of Central American women's forced migration to the United States such a valuable addition to the literature on this searing, contemporary issue."--Jacqueline Bhabha, author of Can We Solve the Migration Crisis?

"Terrio does a beautiful job of articulating the experiences of the undocumented Central American women whose stories are woven throughout the book. . . . Playing with the metaphor of the mouth of the shark, she leads us through their experiences as they run from the shark, are swallowed and spit out by the shark, and escape with devastating bruises. . . . Though they escape physically from the shark that is the violence in Central America, it follows them through their complicated, difficult transnational relationships with family members. Their stories, and Terrio's narratives, depict intergenerational histories of abuse and agency, of harm and decision making within the limited bounds available to these women and their children."--Marjorie Zatz, University of California, Merced

About the Author

Susan J. Terrio is Professor Emerita of Anthropology and French Studies at Georgetown University. She is the author of Whose Child am I? Unaccompanied, Undocumented Children in U.S. Immigration Custody and the co-editor of Illegal Encounters: The Effect of Detention and Deportation in the Lives of Young People.