When Carlos was 19, his mother decided to leave her life in El Salvador for a new start in the United States. Unwilling to let his mother go alone, Carlos joined her on the journey north. During their trip through Mexico and into the US, they experienced the risks and fear countless people from Central American countries have faced while migrating to different lands. Ten years later, Carlos shared these memories with his cousin, cartoonist Ernesto Saade. The result is this thoughtful graphic work that goes beyond headlines and statistics to provide a powerful individual account of migration.

You’ve probably been flooded with statistics, assertions, ideas about immigrants this year. “Illegal immigration,” “Secure the southern border,” “Build the wall,” lots of phrases (many unkind) chanted in political rallies and blaring on TV from the unkindest people ever to wear oversized suits. You’ve probably heard it no matter how tightly you’re covering your ears.

In the noise, you’d be forgiven if you didn’t stop to think about any individual story. Who is crossing the border between Mexico and the US? Why? What are they fleeing from? What are they dreaming of (and is it any different than my ancestors who left Germany for Belarus, then Belarus for North Dakota, in the 1800s)? My ancestors got to come legally because US laws let only Europeans in back then (because of racism). How has the world changed?

Also, how are they crossing the border? Last time I was down there, in San Diego, there was a pretty high wall and border guards and dogs and a whole security apparatus that just gets bigger and bigger no matter who’s in the White House. Last time I looked at a map, there’s a whole lot of desert between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.

What would it be like to leave home, for any reason at all, with no guarantee you’ll make it where you’re going? With an absolute guarantee you’ll never come home again?

How many things would have to go right for you to make it? Would anyone know, or care, if things went terribly wrong?

Dive into this story and give yourself the space to ask these questions and more. Let yourself experience a typical “successful” story of the journey from Central America into the US. Successful because they make it (spoiler alert, but not really), typical because Carlos barely thinks it worth his while to tell it. He’s just another guy among millions, doing the kinds of things you probably would do in his situation.

And, it’s a thrilling story. Danger, sneaking through the night, at the mercy of someone who could choose to kill you or help you or leave you locked in a basement and forget all about you. Danger from nature and from the most dangerous creatures out there: humans.

And, I should probably add, it’s a true story. Unlike the lies those rage monsters are spitting at you from podiums, unlike the cherry-picked statistics and politically motivated anecdotes designed to scare you (because of racism), unlike the cacophony of voices making such a ruckus you can barely stand it, this is real. This is true. And it’s just another story of what’s happening down there, and up here, and all around us.

Join Carlos and his mother on their journey. Sit with this story in curiosity. It’s more important now than ever.
– Matt Gill