Separated...will give you a sense of how the United States, a country that prides itself on its constitutional protections, also possesses a body of immigration laws that can be weaponized by an executive branch willing to do it.

The book takes the form of a reporter’s memoir, and operates on one level as a chronicle of how 21st-century journalism works.

Soboroff zooms in on President Trump and his administration’s decision to separate children from their parents as a deterrent to border crossers. In doing so, he illuminates how, in the face of congressional inaction, a cadre of presidential advisers can introduce policies with shocking, unintended consequences.

The father of a young son, he disarmingly expresses his amazement at the lack of empathy shown by top officials in their zeal to deter immigrants and asylum-seekers. Ultimately, Soboroff focuses on the terrifying journey of a father and son fleeing violence in Guatemala, only to be separated and detained in freezing facilities akin to dog kennels. Each section begins with bureaucratic documents stating the grotesque and inane expectation that small children can wade through the complicated immigration process on their own. Supported by a time line and copious source notes, Soboroff’s thoroughly engaging exposé of the inner workings of a corrupt and unfeeling government is essential to understanding America’s current immigration misery..

Readers interested in learning more about immigration policy will be drawn to this captivating account, which deftly weaves together the political and the personal..

NBC News and MSNBC correspondent Soboroff takes a piercing look at a controversial immigration policy.

MSNBC correspondent Soboroff examines the origins and ramifications of the Trump administration’s 'deliberate and systemic separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents' in his harrowing and deeply informed debut.