Many authors, journalists, and academics have written and exposed the flawed U.S. immigration system and the impacts it has beyond the individual. This book examines the lives of surrounding individuals that have been deported back to Mexico and the repercussions this has on those left behind in the United States. One interesting take from this book is that the book is not situated in the southern U.S. border, but in the Midwest, in Washtenaw County, Michigan. This is especially impactful because this shows that immigration is not something simply focused on California, Arizona, and Texas, but that Latino population is present throughout the entire U.S. Other compelling aspects of this book are that it does not just focus on the telling of individual stories of individuals impacted by deportation, but it takes both a public health and systemic approach of understanding the underlying causes for why the immigration system in the U.S. is flawed. These perspectives add value to the knowledge some of us possess on the U.S. immigration system and on the lives of Latinos who have been historically impacted by the racialization of such laws.

The book is organized by providing a general overview of the main protagonist of the immigration raid the book is centered on, it is followed by a discussion of before the raid, accounts of the raid itself, and the impact on families and communities after the raid. The prose is developed for broad readership, which is beneficial for academic and non-academic audiences who want to know more about the lives of mixed-status Latino families in Michigan. While I appreciate that this book is aimed at a wide audience, the book would have benefited from a bit more discussion with the academic literature to connect the dots better for non-academics. This would have created a greater impact for the book because non-academics could see the repercussion of government policies on the life of Latino mixed-status families and communities, as well as gotten a stronger understanding of how good health is more than just eating healthy and exercising, but that it is tied to various social determinants of health, such as the political context of the geographical location an individual and community resides.

As briefly touched upon, many scholars have discussed the impact of immigration on mixed-status Latino families, but what this book does differently and builds on is that it engages on various sub-themes, such as gender, individual and community levels of impact, and draws in the public health perspective. This book also uses ethnographic and qualitative interviews to tell a compelling story of the lives of these Latinos. Many articles and manuscripts in public health discuss these issues, but this book really discusses the impacts of witnessing a raid firsthand and the negative effect on physical and mental health. These negative health impacts are relayed by parents, adults, and children who witness the raid. One of the mothers whose husband was deported discusses the trance of her daughter after the raid. How the child was wandering aimlessly and how months later the child suffers from various physical health issues. In addition, Lopez also discusses the health impacts of the men who were detained in immigration facilities. Many of these men suffered drastic weight loss from the type of food they were fed and from their lack of appetite due to the constant worry they had concerning their inability to provide for their families. Similar thoughts were described by the mothers who entered single motherhood instantly after their male partners were removed from the United States. They had fears, pain, and stress that contributed to their poor physical and mental health. These accounts were vividly recounted and impactful for the reader.

Another aspect Lopez beautifully describes is the various layers of impact immigration raids have on Latino families. For instance, the book addresses both the individual and community level impacts. Here the author goes beyond incorporating the individuals affected by the raid and includes members of community organizations to paint a picture of how immigration policies and enforcement do not only change the lives of families, but of communities. He discusses how these women whose partners were deported marcadas (marked) or stigmatized by community members. He also discusses the impact of one raid on the whole community. How it increased fears of law enforcement, immigration enforcement, fears to go out to work, take children to school, and look for basic needs, such as food and water. Other important interactions described are the interactions between these women and law enforcement and their landlord. These interactions are particularly important because it shows how gendered immigration is and how the many of the individuals who are deported and arrested are primarily men in comparison to women. It also signals how the landlord exploited his tenants once the raid occurred. The landlord did this by taking value items as payment and removing these women from the premises.

Something else the author does well is examine the parallels between Black and Latino men as it pertains to law enforcement, not just ICE. Lopez discusses how Black men are impacted by police brutality and suffer losing their lives in some situations and compares this to the cooperation between local and immigration law enforcement in the practice of detaining immigrant Latino men. Included among these valuable insights is that Lopez goes beyond interviewing the victims of the immigration raid but also interviews local law enforcement to enhance his understanding between the cooperation of these two agencies.

Overall, this book eloquently brings to light many aspects that are often ignored or not known about the impacts and aftermath of immigration raids on Latino families. It shows that mixed-status families are vulnerable and do not have access to the necessary to help sustain their U.S. citizen children and family members.