Enrique's Journey (36 page)

I refer to stories in the
Los Angeles Times:
“For This Union, It's War,” August 19, 1993, and “Natives, Newcomers at Odds in East L.A.,” March 4, 1996.

The 1997 RAND study that discusses the excessive number of immigrants is “Immigration in a Changing Economy: The California Experience,” by Kevin F. McCarthy and Georges Vernez.

M
uch of the original research for this book was done to report a newspaper series for the
Los Angeles Times.
I could not have done this book without the backing of the world-class newspaper whose editors gave me the time and resources to produce the newspaper series “Enrique's Journey,” which became the foundation for this book.

I am particularly indebted to my
Los Angeles Times
editor, Rick Meyer. Rick is the best editor a reporter could hope for. He is incredibly supportive, and yet he demands that a story achieve the highest standards. His infectious enthusiasm for a good yarn makes you try to do your best work. He taught me more than any other editor I've had about how to tell a story. It is no mystery why reporters clamor to work for Rick.

I would also especially like to thank John Carroll, who believed in “Enrique's Journey” from the beginning. As the executive editor of the
Los Angeles Times,
John showed great gut instincts in how to tweak the story to make it better. He painstakingly and skillfully edited twelve drafts. John's eyes light up at the thought of rolling up his sleeves, pencil in hand, and finding ways to make each sentence, paragraph, and part of a story better. I am also indebted to John for giving me the time off to expand the series into this book.

I am thankful to the dozens of people at the
Los Angeles Times,
too many to name, who were also instrumental in making this story better and more multifaceted. These include people who worked on editing, copyediting, photography, research, graphics, design, Web presentation (including multimedia efforts), and the Spanish-language translation of the series for the Web.

At Random House, I want to thank my editor, Dan Menaker, whose input and passion for this book served to make every part of it better, and editor Stephanie Higgs and production editor Evan Camfield for the care they showed in working to make each part of the book its best.

I thank my agent, Bonnie Nadell, who gave me the initial nudge to write this book, and whose support and wise counsel helped immeasurably throughout.

Hundreds of people helped me in the process of researching and writing this book. Some, in particular, gave me an extraordinary amount of their time and effort.

First and foremost are Enrique, Lourdes, and María Isabel.

Enrique and Lourdes agreed to cooperate despite the obvious pitfalls. As illegal immigrants, they took a real risk in helping me. All they had was my assurance that I would tell their story faithfully and to the best of my abilities, and that doing so might help others understand what families like theirs go through and what the migrant journey is like. For them, this project was a leap of faith. They gave me weeks and weeks of their time over the course of five years, putting up with endless and probing questions, with little more than the hope that I would clearly and accurately convey their experiences. I cannot thank them enough.

I want to thank their families in the United States and in Honduras, who were equally open and patient with me. In the United States, I am indebted to Lourdes's boyfriend and to Diana. The book would not have been possible without the generous help in Honduras of Belky, Rosa Amalia, Mirian, Carlos Orlando Turcios Ramos, Tania Ninoska Turcios, Karla Roxana Turcios, María Edelmira Sánchez Mejía, Ana Lucía, María Marcos, Águeda Amalia Valladares, Gloria, and Eva.

Along the route, I thank Mexico's train companies—Ferrocarriles Chiapas-Mayab, Transportación Ferroviaria Mexicana, and Ferrosur—for allowing me to ride on their trains. Virginia Kice and others at the INS helped me gain access to jails and shelters where migrant children were held. At one of those shelters in Texas, International Educational Services, program coordinator Ruben Gallegos, Jr., helped me interview dozens of migrant children.

In Chiapas, Grupo Beta Sur, and specifically agent Julio César Cancino Gálvez, helped me safely access some of the most dangerous spots where migrants travel, including the train tops. Olga Sánchez Martínez and her family took me into their home and showed me true generosity. Others who gave much of their time in Chiapas were Olivia Ruiz, Hugo Ángeles Cruz, Jorge Reinoso, Gabriela Coutiño, and Sara Isela Hernández Herrera.

In Nuevo Laredo, I thank Padre Leonardo López Guajardo and four nuns who are instrumental to his work, Elizabeth Rangel, María del Tepeyac, Leonor Palacios, and Juanita Montecillo. I also want to thank human rights activist Raymundo Ramos Vásquez.

In Texas, Border Patrol trackers Charles Grout and Manuel Sauceda gave me invaluable insights. In Los Angeles, I owe much of my understanding of how these separations hurt families to former Newcomer School counselor Gabriel Murillo.

Finally, the person I most want to thank is my husband, Bill Regensburger, who endured my long absences as I reported this book, and who has always been a loving, patient, and ardent supporter of my work.

SONIA NAZARIO
, a projects reporter for the
Los Angeles Times,
has spent more than two decades reporting and writing about social issues. Her stories have tackled some of this country's biggest issues: hunger, drug addiction, immigration.

She has won numerous national awards. In 2003, her story of a Honduran boy's struggle to find his mother in the United States, entitled “Enrique's Journey,” won more than a dozen awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, the George Polk Award for International Reporting, the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists Guillermo Martinez-Marquez Award for Overall Excellence. In 1998, she was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series on children of drug-addicted parents. In 1994, she won a George Polk Award for Local Reporting for a series on hunger.

Nazario grew up in Kansas and Argentina and has written extensively from Latin America and about Latinos in the United States. She began her career at
The Wall Street Journal,
where she reported from four bureaus: New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. In 1993, she joined the
Los Angeles Times.
She is a graduate of Williams College and has a master's degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband.

P
RAISE FOR
Enrique's Journey

“A stirring and troubling book about a magnificent journey…Joseph Campbell would recognize
Enrique's Journey
. It's the stuff of myth…. [But the story] is true…. A microcosm of the massive exodus pouring over the borders of our nations…Enrique's suffering and bravery become universal, and one cannot fail to be moved by the desperation and sheer strength of spirit that guides these lonely wanderers…. The border will continue to trouble the dreams of anyone who is paying attention….
Enrique's Journey
is among the best border books yet written.”

—The Washington Post Book World

“In the tradition of Jacob Riis…Nazario has illuminated the modern immigrant experience: with Enrique, she has given a voice and a face to these migrant children.”

—The New York Times Book Review

“[A] prodigious feat of reporting…vivid and detailed…[Nazario is] amazingly thorough and intrepid.”

—Newsday

“An amazing tale…For some journalists, research means sitting at a computer and surfing Google…. For Sonia Nazario…it means leaving home for months at a time to sit on top of a moving freight train running the length of Mexico, risking gangsters and bandits and the occasional tree branch that might knock her off and thrust her under the wheels. It means not eating, drinking water or going to the bathroom for sixteen-hour stretches—all in service to the story.”

—San Francisco Chronicle

“An astounding, disturbing book.”

—
Baltimore
Sun

“This portrait of poverty and family ties has the potential to reshape American conversations about immigration.”

—Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

“
         …[A] searing report from the immigration frontlines…as harrowing as it is heartbreaking…[Nazario] is a fearless reporter who traveled hundreds of miles atop freight trains in order to palpably re-create the danger that faces young migrants as they flee north…. Extraordinary.”

—People

“This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. Nazario's powerful writing illuminates one of the darkest stories in our country. This is outstanding journalism. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one, because you know these young heroes. They live next door.”

—I
SABEL
A
LLENDE

“Gripping and harrowing…a story begging to be told…Readers fed up with the ongoing turf wars between fact and fiction, take note: Here is fantastic stunt reporting that places this sometimes hard-to-believe story squarely in the realm of nonfiction.”

—The Christian Science Monitor

“[
Enrique's Journey
] personifies one of the greatest migrations in history…. Much of the book is a thriller…a twelve-thousand-mile journey worthy of an Indiana Jones movie.”

—The Orange County Register

“A meticulously documented account of an epic journey, one undertaken by thousands of children every year…[Nazario] covers both positive and negative effects of immigration, illuminating the problem's complexity…. In telling Enrique's story [she] bears witness for us all.”

—San Francisco Chronicle

“
Enrique's Journey
is an important, compelling, harrowing tale, one which will long stay with you. We should all be grateful that Sonia Nazario went to such extraordinary lengths to bring us this story. This is reportage at its finest, both courageous and passionate.”

—A
LEX
K
OTLOWITZ

“Riveting…expert reporting…Nazario puts a human face upon a major issue…. The breadth and depth of [her] research is astounding.”

—
Cleveland
Plain Dealer

“Compelling…Nazario doesn't pull any punches.”

—Dallas Morning News

“A heart-racing and heart-rending trip.”

—The Daily Nonpareil

“A story of heartache, brutality, and love deferred that is near mythic in its power.”

—Los Angeles

“Stunning…As an adventure narrative alone,
Enrique's Journey
is a worthy read…. Nazario's impressive piece of reporting…turn[s]the current immigration controversy from a political story into a personal one.”

—Entertainment Weekly

“
Enrique's Journey
is the Odyssey of our time and place. The story of a boy's brave and harrowing search for the mother who loved him but left is the most telling, moving, and unsparing account I have ever read about those who struggle and sacrifice to give their families better lives, and the loneliness and regret that no success can ever fully put to rest. It is a great American—I emphasize that—story, beautifully reported.”

—S
COTT
S
IMON

“Gripping…astounding…viscerally conveys the experience of illegal immigration from Central America…[Nazario] has crafted her findings into a story that is at once moving and polemical.”

—Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

“A remarkable feat of ‘immersion reporting'…[gives the immigrant] flesh and bone, history and voice…the kind of story we have told ourselves throughout our history, a story we still need to hear.”

—Los Angeles Times Book Review

“
Enrique's Journey
is insightful and beautifully written and sheds a great deal of light on the horrific journeys immigrants risk to find a better life. Highly recommended.”

—Library Journal

“A story readers won't soon forget.”

—Tu Ciudad

“This is a harrowing odyssey that depicts one young man's attempts to reunite with his mother and the social and economic issues involved in illegal immigration.”

—Booklist

“Here is an account of a boy's childhood and youth that becomes a powerfully instructive summons to us readers, who grow into Enrique's grateful, spellbound students. His life, his vivid search, teach a haunting lesson of suffering that turns into a kind of redemption.”

—R
OBERT
C
OLES

“
Enrique's Journey
is an empathetic glimpse into the Faustian bargain made by immigrants who leave family behind for a bet on the rewards of life in the north. Sonia Nazario's brave reporting focuses particularly on a consequence of one woman's departure from Central America: the horrific gauntlet suffered by her son as he traverses Mexico, often in the company of similar children, all of them in search of their parents.”

—T
ED
C
ONOVER

“Gripping, heroic and important,
Enrique's Journey
captures the heart. Most Americans or their forebears came to the United States from other countries. They experienced difficult journeys and wrenching family separations—all in the hope of finding a better life in this new land. Enrique's story is
our
story, beautifully told.”

—E
DWARD
J
AMES
O
LMOS