Sanctuary

Mami is Vali and Ernie’s mother. She is caring, protective, hardworking, and resilient. Although she is captured by DF and is not reunited with her children within the course of this novel, her character arc still demonstrates The Importance of Resilience in the Face of Adversity. Her resilience inspires Vali to find sanctuary. After fleeing her war-torn home, being forced to move away from her sister, losing her husband, and losing her job and coworkers, Mami remains hopeful, faithful, and determined to usher her children as close as possible to the goal of sanctuary. She gets them to Massachusetts, then leaves them with tools (a map and money, for example) that will help them find the rest of their way without her. The most important “tool” she leaves them with is resilience itself. Mami does not have the necessary tools to achieve her own goals, such as a reliable fake chip or money for coyote transportation to California for herself, Vali, and Ernie. However, with what limited resources she has, she forges the best path possible with clear resolve.

When Mami is captured by DF, this means separation from her children, who are now alone in the world. This demonstrates The Human Cost of Xenophobia; it is tragic that children should be separated from their parents simply because of which country each person was born in, and/or which family member has the best counterfeit chip. It might seem that, because Mami was captured, her efforts and resilience were pointless. However, thanks to The Power of Family, Mami passes down resilience to Vali and Ernie who draw strength from her memory and who are determined to carry on in her name. Although Mami had an unfairly short amount of time, she still succeeded in passing down the most important things to her children, such as love, resilience, hope, and a good moral compass.

Ernie is Vali’s eight-year-old younger brother, who was born in the US and has a real ID chip rather than a counterfeit one. Ernie is silly, kind, and fun-loving. Although Ernie is not in danger of being deported, captured, or enslaved like his family members are, he is still in a precarious position because he is a young child in danger of having his family taken away from him. Unfortunately, this does come to pass, and both Ernie’s parents are captured by government agencies, leaving Ernie alone with his sister, a teenager. Papi is deported and murdered, whereas Mami’s fate is unknown. Ernie’s experience develops the theme The Human Cost of Xenophobia by showing how xenophobia and aggressive immigration policies affect not only undocumented immigrants, but impact other immigrants and children of immigrants as well. Although Ernie isn’t killed or captured, he loses his parents and faces a number of traumatic dangers while seeking sanctuary.

Ernie’s role also develops the theme The Importance of Resilience in the Face of Adversity because, as a younger child who has not yet developed as much knowledge and doubt as Vali has, Ernie has a different relationship to hope and resilience. Ernie believes in fairy tales, superheroes, and miracles, so maintaining hope is easier for him. Although he experiences several losses, he still believes he and his comrades are “awesome” and that it is at least possible to help others, including Mami. Ernie’s innate hope, faith, and resilience may “rub off” on older people around him. At the same time, Ernie’s hope, faith, and resilience are continuously fed by Mami, Vali, and others around him, who allow him to have moments of joy and to believe in optimistic possibilities. As a result, he develops the resilience to carry him through unimaginably tough times.

Papi is Vali and Ernie’s father who is deceased by the beginning of the novel, having been deported to Colombia and then murdered. Papi was joyful, brave, and loyal. Although he is deceased, he often appears in Vali’s memories, bringing him to life as a character. His life is lost because of aggressive immigration policies, demonstrating The Human Cost of Xenophobia in a literal way. Furthermore, Papi is not the only one who pays this cost, because his death deeply affects his family. His children now must pay the cost of not having a father, due to xenophobia.

On the other hand, Papi also represents The Importance of Resilience in the Face of Adversity and The Power of Family. Through memories of Papi, Vali draws the courage, strength, and determination necessary to find her way across the nation and into California, no matter what obstacles she encounters. With the love of her parents carrying her forward, Vali triumphs over feats she never thought possible, such as jumping onto moving trains or swimming across the Colorado River. Vali’s association of Papi with water also highlights the belief she has in miracles, because water symbolizes miracles in the novel.

Tia Luna, who lives in California, is Vali and Ernie’s aunt and Mami’s sister. She is loving, responsible, and politically active. When Mami, Papi, and Vali first immigrated from Columbia, California was still part of the US, and they lived near Tia Luna. However, after immigration raids in California increased, Mami moved her children to Vermont. Tia Luna was able to stay in California because she obtained immigration papers through marriage. Especially because of the physical distance between them, Mami and her children are concerned about Tia Luna’s safety when conflict breaks out between California and the rest of the US, as a result of the US’s increasingly combative and dangerous policies surrounding immigration and border control. No matter how long it has been since they have seen Tia Luna, their love for her prevails, demonstrating The Power of Family.

Tia Luna further demonstrates the power of family when she welcomes the children into her home in the sanctuary state of California after Mami is captured by DF, leaving Vali and Ernie with no caregiver. Tia Luna opens her home to the siblings even though she lives in a small, one-room structure. She does this because she loves them and they are her family. Like Mami, Tia Luna’s first priority is helping her family to the degree that she is able. While she doesn’t have the resources to find or save Mami, she can feed and house Vali and Ernie, send them to school, and make sure they are raised in a way that would make Mami happy.

Kenna is Vali’s best friend at the beginning of the novel, when Vali and her family still live in Vermont. She is morally inclined, intelligent, and politically conscious. For these reasons, and because Kenna’s parents are also undocumented immigrants (although Kenna was born in the US), Kenna is the only person in Vermont outside of Vali’s family who knows that Vali is an undocumented immigrant. Although Vali trusts Kenna and would like to speak openly around her, she often has to hold her tongue even while speaking to Kenna, because others might overhear. This emphasizes the extent of isolation and danger that the undocumented immigrants in the novel experience most of the time. They cannot trust most people and consequently can’t tell most people their true backstories or even their true feelings about issues going on in the world, for fear of persecution.

Kenna’s fate in the novel is unclear, which develops the theme The Human Cost of Xenophobia. Around the time when raids start increasing in Vermont and the ID chip system upgrade is being implemented, Vali stops hearing from Kenna; Kenna’s phone is disconnected, suggesting that her family either ran somewhere else or was captured. Vali loses many loved ones throughout the text, each in different ways. In Kenna’s case, Vali is not sure what happened to her, so she is denied even the closure that could come with knowledge.

Sister Lottie is a woman whom Mami knows from the family’s time in California. Sister Lottie now lives in New York City. When the immigration raids increase, Mami starts calling anyone she knows who might be able to help. Most people do not have the information or resources to help, but Sister Lottie miraculously does. Mami sees a beacon of hope in Sister Lottie and directs Vali and Ernie to go to her even if Mami gets lost along the way.

Sister Lottie acts as a “donor” character because she provides the protagonist, Vali, with resources that help her along her journey. In keeping with the fairy tale motif in the novel, Sister Lottie represents a fairy godmother role; inexplicably, she is able to give large amounts of money to people she has never met, along with a host of other resources like food, a place to sleep, and clothing. Sister Lottie turns the church where she works into a sanctuary to house multiple undocumented immigrants. Although the DF agents are allowed to search private properties without warrants, even they respect the sanctuary of churches. Sister Lottie helps many people through her church, and she also pays for coyote passage for Vali and Ernie’s attempted journey to California. Sister Lottie’s assistance is limited because she doesn’t have the ability to know where Mami is or how to rescue her. Still, her helpfulness exceeds Vali’s hopes, especially for someone who is a stranger; in this way she helps Vali maintain and restore a sense of hope for the difficult journey ahead.

Rosa, Tomas, and Guadalupe are three of the other passengers who Vali and Tomas meet in the coyote truck. Tomas is four years old, Guadalupe is a baby, and Rosa is their mother. As a family, they are loving, kind, and want to get to California safely. After a DF agent stops the truck and the driver shoots the DF agent, the passengers split into two groups, with Vali and Ernie walking with Rosa, Tomas, Guadalupe, and others toward their halfway point in Oklahoma. When the second coyote driver and his associates in Oklahoma try to hurt Rosa, they all run, but Tomas is unable to escape the muddy marshland and dies. Rosa then chooses to stay with Tomas’s body; rather than continue her journey westward without both her children. DF drones then capture Rosa and Guadalupe along with the body of Tomas.

Rosa’s decision to stay with Tomas’s body illustrates how The Power of Family transcends even death. Rosa demonstrates courage, determination, and resilience; her actions inspire qualities in others, as Vali, Ernie, Volcanoman, and Malakas become even more resolute in their mission once they lose Rosa, Tomas, and Guadalupe. Vali promises Rosa that she will not forget Tomas. Vali intends to remembers Tomas’s fate as an inspiration rather than a tragedy. This in turn gives her strength to succeed in her own quest.

Volcanoman is another passenger whom Vali and Ernie meet on the coyote truck. “Volcanoman” is a nickname Vali creates based on his appearance and her first impression of him. His true name is never revealed. Volcanoman is physically large; at first, he seems tough, serious, and brusque. It becomes clear that the reason Volcanoman acts tough and mean is because he is singularly focused on reaching sanctuary, having grown tired of living in constant fear and endangerment. Volcanoman becomes friendlier once he gets to know everyone better, and he even develops a familial level of loyalty toward his travel mates. For example, he kills a DF officer to protect Rosa from sexual assault. His character illustrates how appearances can differ from reality, and how people are not always what they seem. Volcanoman left his home country of Brazil, where he faced intolerance because he was gay. Like Vali’s parents, ironically, Volcanoman sought safety and acceptance in the US. Volcanoman takes the necessary actions despite fear, which demonstrates true courage.

Volcanoman does not make it to California. He is instead captured by DF agents who see people are riding on top of the cargo train. As with others who are lost, Vali tries to remember Volcanoman for his courage and drive along the journey, which gives her strength to continue.