Efrén Divided

Family separation is a problem that also occurs as a result of war, natural disaster, increased migration worldwide, and other reasons, as this PBS Newshour article from January 2020 points out. Efrén’s conflict and Amá’s deportation and detention, however, result from the dichotomy between law and policy in the US and the pressing need many immigrants experience to seek safety and freedom in America.

Though the narrative of Efrén Divided does not specify a time period, readers might realistically speculate that some events and details in Efrén’s story allude generally to immigration control measures and policy in the United States in recent years. For example, in 2017-18, news media and online sources covered government policy changes that resulted in an increase in ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents and border patrol agents; news and media also made frequent mentions of a new border wall.

In the novel, Efrén searches online for online information on raids and sees that “Talk of a giant new wall came up repeatedly” (102). Additional news stories of family separation, workplace raids, and immigration facilities’ accommodations accompanied continued changes in policy that affected undocumented people and those attempting to migrate without permission into the US, like the US Department of Justice’s “zero-tolerance” policy for criminal entry (unauthorized immigration). In the novel, Jennifer Huerta, a classmate of Efrén’s, decides to run for school president because she “was home watching a report on how undocumented families were being separated. They had kids in cages. Like animals” (29), and Efrén sees online articles and videos of “people being taken from the workplace, hospitals, even homes” (102). The author’s dedication page further supports a connection between Efrén’s story and real-life immigration policy in the US, as he dedicates the book to “all immigrant families who continue to be cruelly separated, and, especially, to all the brave children who are forced to live this story.”

When Efrén decides to serve as president of the student body at his school late in the novel, he mentions, “I can start a campaign to educate parents. Let them understand their rights” (247). Though Efrén does not specify what parents he means, the narrative implies that he means parents like Amá who are separated from their minor children. Starting points for researching current policies and procedures and rights of immigrants and detainees might be both ICE.gov’s Detention Policies and recent news stories such as those from the Associated Press.