Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here Summary
Jonathan Blitzer

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here Overview

Jonathan Blitzer's Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here weaves together personal narratives and historical analysis to examine Central American migration to the United States from the 1970s to the present day, focusing particularly on El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala. Through the stories of individuals like Juan Romagoza, a doctor who fled state violence, Eddie Anzora, a youth who faced deportation, and Keldy Gonzáles, who endured family separation, the book illuminates how political violence, natural disasters, gang activity, and U.S. immigration policies create overlapping humanitarian crises. Between these personal accounts, Blitzer provides crucial historical context about U.S. foreign policy in Central America and the evolution of immigration policy, showing how institutional decisions shape individual lives and create self-perpetuating cycles of displacement. The result is a comprehensive portrait of migration that demonstrates how past patterns of violence and policy continue to shape current immigration challenges in North America.