Summary

Chapter 4, “Casimira Navarro López,” opens in the state of Jalisco, Mexico in 2015. Casimira, the one-time girlfriend of a Mexican passenger on the flight, is giving her testimony. She recalls that Luis Miranda Cuevas was a good, funny man. The story opens with Luis crossing the border in 1946. He has been crossing the border for three years, though he regrets that he is traveling such a long distance alone. He pulls a photograph of Casimira out of his pocket and remembers his promise to marry her. In the present moment, Casimira shows the author the photo he had.

Chapter 5, “Los Enganchados,” describes the Bracero Program active during the war years in the United States. During the war, the United States needed Mexican men to do fieldwork but, by 1947, “Mexican labor was once again dispensable” (33) and immigration control was cracking down. However, recruiting centers...