After the Last Border
Two Families and the Story of Refuge in America
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4.8 • 9 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Simply brilliant, both in its granular storytelling and its enormous compassion" --The New York Times Book Review
The story of two refugee families and their hope and resilience as they fight to survive and belong in America
The welcoming and acceptance of immigrants and refugees have been central to America's identity for centuries--yet America has periodically turned its back in times of the greatest humanitarian need. After the Last Border is an intimate look at the lives of two women as they struggle for the twenty-first century American dream, having won the "golden ticket" to settle as refugees in Austin, Texas.
Mu Naw, a Christian from Myanmar struggling to put down roots with her family, was accepted after decades in a refugee camp at a time when America was at its most open to displaced families; and Hasna, a Muslim from Syria, agrees to relocate as a last resort for the safety of her family--only to be cruelly separated from her children by a sudden ban on refugees from Muslim countries. Writer and activist Jessica Goudeau tracks the human impacts of America's ever-shifting refugee policy as both women narrowly escape from their home countries and begin the arduous but lifesaving process of resettling in Austin--a city that would show them the best and worst of what America has to offer.
After the Last Border situates a dramatic, character-driven story within a larger history--the evolution of modern refugee resettlement in the United States, beginning with World War II and ending with current closed-door policies--revealing not just how America's changing attitudes toward refugees have influenced policies and laws, but also the profound effect on human lives.
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Journalist Goudeau presents a richly detailed account of the resettlement experiences of two women granted refugee status in the U.S. Mu Naw fled Myanmar in 1989, at age five, and grew up in Thai refugee camps. She came to Austin, Tex., in 2007 with her husband and two young daughters, and Goudeau chronicles the family's struggles with the language barrier, loneliness, and post-traumatic stress. Hasna al-Salam's story begins in Daara, Syria, in 2011, when clashes between the Syrian Army and antigovernment protesters separated her from her adult children. Told by immigration authorities that her children could follow her through the family reunification process, Hasna made it to the U.S. in 2016. However, passage of the Trump administration's travel ban scuttled those plans. Goudeau interweaves the stories of Mu Naw and Hasna with the history of refugee legislation in America, from the 1948 Displaced Persons Act to the 1980 Federal Refugee Resettlement Program and the raising of the refugee quota by President Obama just before the 2016 election. Her excellent interview skills and obvious empathy for her subjects make the family portraits utterly engrossing, and the history sections provide essential context. This moving and insightful dual portrait makes an impassioned case for humane immigration and refugee policy.
