Description:
Moving between the practical and philosophical pursuit of best practices in forensic and social care for the dead, this book examines the U.S.-Mexico border and asks, What happens when care falls short?
Review Quotes:
"This book brings a unique perspective on the deaths of migrants along the U.S.-Mexico border and the many agencies and organizations that attempt to care for the dead. High numbers of the dead remain unidentified while the issue of migrant deaths is willfully ignored in public policy on 'security' and immigration. Soto brings much-needed analysis to the topic, with over a decade of research that extends from Arizona to Texas. Her argument that border deaths should be classified as homicides does much to advance discussion about state responsibility. In sum, the book reveals that the way society treats the dead tells us much about whose lives are valued and why."--Christine M. Kovic, University of Houston-Clear Lake
"This book is a powerful account that draws from longitudinal and deeply embedded research to understand the material realities and the political interests that explain the limited forensic infrastructure to respond to migrant deaths at the U.S.-Mexico border. Offering an original and accessible perspective that combines personal experience with theories of grievability and haunting, Soto examines why there is a lack of political will to put resources toward forensic tools and databases that would bring justice to the victims of the border regime and their families. Soto offers a clear pathway for policies and practices that could be implemented to effectively and humanely address the need for identification of unidentified bodies and remains of migrants and, at a more systemic level, to challenge the discourse around migrant deaths as a phenomenon that is delinked from existing border policies and the government's responsibility for their consequences, especially the loss of life."--Alexandra Délano Alonso, author of From Here and There: Diaspora Policies, Integration, and Social Rights Beyond Borders