Hope On The Border: Immigration, Incarceration, And The Power Of Poetry

Seth Michelson takes readers inside the most restrictive maximum security detention center in the United States, where undocumented, unaccompanied youth are held in isolation. As the reader meets several children who are part of the author’s poetry workshop, we hear from the children in their own words, and learn the harsh reality of the lived experiences of migrating people who are trying to escape violence and poverty in their home countries. Their pasts, their struggles, their hopes, and their dreams are highlighted through the medium of poetry. The author shares these stories, as well as those of mothers and children at a different facility in Dilley, Texas, infamous site of the death of 20-month old Mariee Juarez, whose death made front page headlines in 2018.

Each chapter is grounded in the voices of migrating people from El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Cuba. Through these stories, the reader learns the intricacies of our immigration system and the challenges migrants face as they work toward a better life. Armed with this knowledge, readers may be inspired to act on behalf of these powerless children, whether by implementing a model poetry workshop in their own community or working with advocacy groups or legal aid groups to champion for change.

In the author Q&A below, Seth discusses his inspiration behind the book, why he chose to center children’s voices, and the power of poetry as a medium.

What inspired you to write this book?
I will be inspired to my dying breath by the migrating people with whom I have collaborated in communities across the hemispheric Americas since childhood, including those people in immigration detention centers, refugee camps, shelters, churches, safe havens, and elsewhere. Their stories are as foundational to my understanding of human hope as they are absent from our national conversations about immigration. Accordingly, I was inspired to write this book as a means for some of these people to be able to share their stories, as they wished. And if successful, then each of their stories will stand both as a unique narrative of a specific individual person’s migration, and as an archetype of experience for readers to ponder while considering how and why the US immigration system might be reshaped.

I also imagined it as a means to compile and share regularly requested information more readily and efficiently with an ever broadening swath of the global public. During many years of traveling and speaking on the topic I discovered a widespread and very understandable feeling of disempowerment among the US public. This, too, inspired me to write the book. Time and
again, people would at some point shake their heads and lament in exasperation that they felt helpless to try to effectuate the changes that they wished to see to our immigration system and I wanted to change that dynamic.

Q: Could you discuss the importance of centering children’s voices?
Too often in the US, we speak for people on the topic of immigration. This is especially true of children. Without ever hearing from them, without learning the specifics of their experiences, needs, or dreams, we make life or death decisions for them through policy. And, again, we do this out of ignorance. Our legislative and judicial debates are only partially informed at best. I hope to redress this by centering children’s voices in this book, as well as other publications. The more informed we are as a nation, the better our decisions.
Additionally, few people have direct contact with undocumented children. These children are here in the US, they are part of our national community, and we must account for them as responsible adults partaking in our democracy. And if the children are in detention, then it is all the more urgent and crucial that we learn from them about their motivations, hopes, and experiences. These are minors in our care, and it would seem profoundly irresponsible to simply incarcerate and ignore them, particularly when the rates of self-harm are extremely high among
such children and when we have so many alternatives to detention at our fingertips.

Q: How and why is poetry such a powerful medium for self-expression?
This is a very difficult question to answer, particularly in such limited space. But, in brief, poetry is a powerful medium for self-expression because it is an art form that is available to all of us. Poetry is a construct of feelings and language, which every human has. In contradistinction, not everyone has the ability to express themselves with a cello or paintbrush, but we all have words. And a person need not even be literate to create powerful poetry. In fact I have taught hundreds of illiterate poets over the years, and their work is marvelous. After all, the roots of poetry around the world consistently reveal its inception as an oral art form grounded in the musicality of language, and we as human beings love this–sections of our brains literally light up with pleasure at poetry being heard in laboratory studies–and, accordingly, we are yet to have a culture without poetry, however variously it may be defined.

Q: How did your work on behalf of migrants begin, and how has it evolved over the
years?
My work with migrating people began in early childhood. While still in elementary school, I would join my father in Mexico on weekends and during school vacations to support his work
with migrating people. I immediately found the experiences to be deeply meaningful, and I have continued ever since then not only to volunteer in Mexico and the US to support migrating people, but also across the hemispheric Americas in particular and the world in general.

Q: What do you hope readers take away from this book?
I hope that readers will feel empowered by this book. I hope they finish the book feeling more informed and self-confident on the topic of immigration in the US and beyond. More practically, I hope for readers also to take away from this book a deepened commitment to continuous learning on the topic of immigration. I hope the book will leave them inspired to be openminded, empathetic, and generous. And I hope that it will help them to feel empowered to intervene in communities of importance to them in relation to the wellbeing of migrating people.

We thrive as a democracy by nurturing one another and working towards shared, sustainable harmony. And I believe that goal is possible. I have faith in individuals, and I believe in the largesse and beauty of our political system. I hope that readers, too, will glean this from the book and finish it feeling refreshed and inspired by a greater and deeper understanding of our brilliance as both individuals and members of the many intertwined communities comprising our fine nation, one in which we are capable of living together in shared peace, health, and prosperity.

Q: Why is it so important to share these real-life stories now?
More than important, it is crucial to share these stories now. They come from real, living people who have been erased from our landscape by detention. And they are not alone; thousands of people are suffering similarly in our immigration system every day. So, in hearing these stories now, readers will be able to learn fresh, credible, and vital information, and they will be able to integrate it into their moral, political, and cultural thinking about the topic.

Q: Do you have suggestions of how people can discuss the topic of immigration in a productive, respectful way?
However seemingly oxymoronic, my suggestion is for people to begin their discussions of immigration with a preconditional commitment by all involved in the conversation to patient, empathetic listening. I believe it crucial to listen to one another as much as we can with open minds and hearts. Such an approach can help to break down our superficial fears and divisions, and thereby allow our shared humanity to surface. In this manner, we create the conditions for the active exchange of ideas, meaning the productive, respectful discussions that you asked about with your question.

Q: Can you offer two to three suggestions for how people can support migrants if they’re inspired to do so after reading Hope on the Border?
The book is packed with suggestions for how readers can support migrating people, if so inspired, so that is the best answer here. That said, I would suggest looking into local options first. These might include volunteering to translate documents for a local immigration attorney, volunteering at a local food pantry or soup kitchen, helping to secure safe housing for migrating people in one’s town, writing op-eds for local newspapers, offering safe rides to court, school, or work for migrating people, and creating clothing, food, and appliance drives for local migrating families and communities via collaborations with local houses of worship, schools, sports clubs, and/or social services. Readers can also always donate money, too, to local and state and national groups working for the rights and wellbeing of migrating people.

We will have two copies available for a giveaway for our readers! We will share more information about it at a later date.