Summary

Page 35 – 40—Luiselli recounts her first day of work as an interpreter in the New York immigration court in March 2015. She took her niece with her to work at the AILA, where they met two lawyers from The Door, a nonprofit organization aimed at supporting youth. The office quickly became overrun with children seeking legal assistance that Luiselli and her niece were trusted to work unsupervised immediately.

Media coverage of the immigration crisis between the summer of 2014 and the beginning of 2015 gave a general understanding of the situation. Most children were fleeing gang violence from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. More than 102,000 children were detained at the border during this crisis.

Luiselli describes the room she conducted her interviews in as a church. A wooden balustrade sections off the area where interviews were held from the rest of the room. On the other side...