These girls and boys are crossing into the United States in search of the fabled 'better life' that has attracted migrants, authorized and unauthorized, since before the Mayflower landed. But in the Northern Triangle—Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador—a 'better life,' for many, means a life where they are not afraid of being killed.
-- Lauren Markham (Author's Note)

Importance: This quote speaks to the root cause of why so many undocumented unaccompanied minors are making the journey to the United States from the Northern Triangle. The first sentence in this quote contextualized the United States in immigration history as a place that has always been home to migrants and that has become part of a historical and contemporary mythology about everything the country can offer to newcomers. The second part of the quote redefines the concept of this mythology by emphasizing that the primary motivator for most migrants is a matter of life...