Shelter on the Journey

“On their perilous journey north to the United States, migrants find dozens of welcoming shelters that provide temporary safety and comfort. Priscilla Solano’s ethnography offers a poignant and compelling picture of this humanitarian resistance to the growing global divide and the political violence of borders.”-Didier Fassin, author of Humanitarian Reason: A Moral History of the Present “Shelter on the Journey captures the contradictions of humanitarian projects with subtlety and humanity. Through a focus on migrant shelters, Solano offers a novel perspective on the complex relationship between humanitarian work and activism, with persistent attention on the broader systems that consistently criminalize migrants. An excellent contribution to migration studies, humanitarian and charity scholarship, and beyond.”-Cecilia Menjivar, Dorothy L. Meier Chair in Social Equities and Professor of Sociology at UCLA, and coauthor of Immigrant Families "Solano argues that the work of shelters in addressing the basic needs of migrants can imply support for their flight from economic precarity and personal danger; some shelter leaders and personnel have gone further, explicitly defending the human right to seek safety and security through movement. The book is strongest in its presentation of fieldwork findings, which, while dated, trace patterns of abuse that have only worsened over time.... Summing Up: Recommended."-Choice "Shelter on the Journey expands our understanding of the critical role that humanitarian actors play in shaping irregular migration through Mexico. The book contributes a rich examination of how efforts to 'dignify transit' work within but also subvert Western humanitarianism and state border securitization efforts."-Law & Society Review "[A] valuable account of the shelter system that provides migrants who are in transit in Mexico with a place to sleep, a hot meal, and an oasis of care during otherwise challenging journeys.... [B]ased on impressive and challenging research.... Shelter on the Journey is valuable reading."-Racial and Ethnic Studies