The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Blitzer, Jonathan. Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here. Penguin Press, 2024.

Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here weaves together individual narratives and historical analysis to examine Central American migration to the United States, particularly focusing on El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala from the 1970s to the present day.

The book follows several main characters whose stories illuminate different aspects of migration. Juan Romagoza, a Salvadoran doctor, represents the 1980s wave of refugees fleeing state violence. After being tortured by the military regime, he escapes to the U.S., where he becomes a community leader and eventually testifies against his torturers in a landmark human rights case. Eddie Anzora exemplifies the "1.5 generation" - brought to the U.S. as an infant, he grows up American but faces deportation after minor legal infractions, forcing him to rebuild his life in a homeland he barely knows.

Keldy Mabel Gonzáles Brebe de Zúniga's story shows how natural disasters, gang violence, and U.S. immigration policies create overlapping crises. After Hurricane Mitch devastates Honduras and gang violence claims several of her brothers' lives, she becomes one of the first victims of the Trump administration's family separation policy. Her experience, including her role as "La Pastora" helping other separated mothers, illustrates both the policy's cruelty and migrants' resilience.

The narrative of Myrna Mack Chang, a Guatemalan anthropologist assassinated for her work with indigenous communities, and her daughter Lucrecia's later role in government, demonstrates how political violence affects multiple generations. Their story, along with Myrna's sister Helen's pursuit of justice, shows how families and societies grapple with historical trauma.

Between these personal narratives, Blitzer provides historical context about U.S. foreign policy in Central America, including support for right-wing governments that created refugee crises, and the evolution of U.S. immigration policy from the 1980 Refugee Act through recent border policies. He examines how institutions on both sides of the border - from grassroots organizations like La Clínica to immigration enforcement agencies - shape migrant experiences.

The book demonstrates how migration patterns become self-perpetuating through complex social and political dynamics. State violence drives initial refugee waves, deportation policies later export gang culture back to Central America, and subsequent waves flee gang violence, creating new cycles of displacement. Throughout, Blitzer shows how personal decisions and policy choices create ripple effects that transform communities on both sides of the border.

The author concludes by revealing his own role in documenting these stories during the COVID-19 pandemic, offering a mix of outcomes that resist simple conclusions about migration, justice, or reconciliation. Instead, he presents migration as an ongoing process shaped by both individual agency and larger historical forces, with impacts that continue to reverberate across borders and generations.