First published 2024
Borders grow harder while demand for human smugglers rises each year. Political chaos, economic desperation, climate disasters, and hunger for cheap workers drive millions to cross illegally. The guides who move them remain misunderstood, painted as cartoon villains rather than complex people operating in a billion dollar shadow economy. MacArthur Fellow Jason De León gained rare access to smuggling crews moving migrants through Mexico over seven years of fieldwork. He follows foot soldiers learning the trade and conflicted gang bosses managing networks of guides and informants. The narrative centers on one coyote who finds love and tries to escape the business. De León reveals how smugglers actually live and work beyond the stereotypes. This intimate portrait won the National Book Award for Nonfiction and earned a PEN America Literary Awards longlist spot. The book provides readers with the first detailed look inside human smuggling operations from the perspective of those who run them.
Genres: social-issues, non-fiction, 21st-century, true-crime
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: complex-characters, insider-perspective
Setting: Mexico
Period: 21st-century
367 pages · Hardcover · Viking
Content warnings: trafficking