Lost - and Found - in Translation

Our guest in today's episode is Alejandra Oliva, a Mexican American translator and immigrant justice activist. We discuss her stunning memoir, "Rivermouth: A Chronicle of Language, Faith, and Migration," in which Alejandra delves into her family's history, her work as a translator, and the difficult journeys migrants must take to find a place to call home. We focus on Alejandra's work as an interpretor for asylum-seekers and for the migrants who were part of the caravan that made its way from Central America to the Mexican-US border in Tijuana in late 2018. What becomes clear as our coversation unfolds is that as difficult and traumatic as the journey is for many migrants who risk their lives and the lives of their children to make the harrowing journey to the Mexican border, the little hope and dignitiy they come with is put to the test by the US government, who - through their actions - ask: "what are you afraid of more, where you came from, or what we are about to do to you and your family before we even let you in?"