by Sally Lewis
‘Cruel watertight system’ a matter of life and death for migrants on the US-Mexico border
The US-Mexico border
[Anthony Albright/Creative Commons] 
New releases from Max Richter, Julius Asal, and Jean-Michel Jarre
RON JACOBS applauds a reading of black history in the US that plots the path from autonomy to self-governance and then liberation
TOM KING relishes an enlightening history of the checkered progress of the war that humanity has waged on bacteria
ANDY HEDGECOCK is intrigued by a scholarly account of how systemic disinformation can exacerbate the perception of threat and foster hatred
New releases from Cuban pianist Aruan Ortiz, trumpeter Kenny Dorham, and London pianist Geoff Castle
The Line Becomes a River
by Francisco Cantu
(Bodley Head, £14.99)
LAST year, an Amnesty International report revealed that an already dangerous journey for tens of thousands of refugees attempting to cross the Mexico-US border has become deadlier still as a result of Donald Trump’s executive order on border control and immigration.
According to Amnesty, the US is building a “cruel watertight system” to prevent people in need from receiving international protection and Mexico is all too willing to play the role of the US gatekeeper. That strategy ignores the fact that these are people with no other choice but to flee their homes if they want to survive, the report stressed.
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