Without a Country

Many Americans believe service in the military to be a quintessential way to demonstrate patriotism. We expect those who serve to be treated with respect and dignity. However, as in so many aspects of our politics, the reality and our ideals diverge widely in our treatment of veterans. There is perhaps no starker example of this than the continued practice of deporting men and women who have served.J. Malcolm Garcia has travelled across the country and abroad to interview veterans who have been deported, as well as the families and friends they have left behind, giving the full scope of the tragedy to be found in this all too common practice. Without a Country analyzes the political climate that has led us here and takes a hard look at the toll deportation has taken on American vets and their communities.Deported veterans share in and reflect the diversity of America itself. The numerous compounding injustices meted out to them reflect many of the still unresolved contradictions of our nation and its ideals. But this story, in all its grit and complexity, really boils down to an old, simple question: Who is a real American?

Praise for J. Malcolm Garcia:"J. Malcolm Garcia is the keeper of forgotten stories. He is an invaluable witness and a compassionate observer of today's wars."—Fatima Bhutto, author of Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir"I don't know if he's unheralded, but there's a writer named J. Malcolm Garcia who continually astounds me with his energy and empathy. He writes powerful and lyrical nonfiction from Afghanistan, from Buenos Aires, from Mississippi, all of it urgent and provocative. I've been following him wherever he goes."—Dave Eggers“Garcia is an exceptionally powerful voice on behalf of the people about whom he writes. As he illustrates the results of America’s military adventuring, Garcia not only takes us to the physical space of the people who are the victims of our drone attacks, our bombs, and our bullets, but he also goes where few nonfiction writers have the skill to venture—he takes us inside their heads.”—Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, "Timely and compelling, Garcia writes with great empathy, and forces us to consider the most relevant question of our time: what kind of country do we want to be? A nation that cares for our war veterans, or one that deports them into the unknown? This book is utterly of the moment, and captures our country's zeitgeist perfectly."—Brian Castner, author of The Long Walk: A Story of War and the Life That Follows and All the Ways We Kill and Die: An Elegy for a Fallen Comrade, and the Hunt for His Killer "A textured, wide-ranging, and often moving investigation into the moral questions raised by the little-understood nexus between immigration policy and veterans affairs."—Alexander Zaitchik, author of The Gilded Rage: A Wild Ride Through Donald Trump’s America, Praise for J. Malcolm Garcia:"J. Malcolm Garcia is the keeper of forgotten stories. He is an invaluable witness and a compassionate observer of today's wars."—Fatima Bhutto, author of Songs of Blood and Sword: A Daughter's Memoir"I don't know if he's unheralded, but there's a writer named J. Malcolm Garcia who continually astounds me with his energy and empathy. He writes powerful and lyrical nonfiction from Afghanistan, from Buenos Aires, from Mississippi, all of it urgent and provocative. I've been following him wherever he goes."—Dave Eggers“Garcia is an exceptionally powerful voice on behalf of the people about whom he writes. As he illustrates the results of America’s military adventuring, Garcia not only takes us to the physical space of the people who are the victims of our drone attacks, our bombs, and our bullets, but he also goes where few nonfiction writers have the skill to venture—he takes us inside their heads.”—Dale Maharidge, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist

J. Malcolm Garcia is a freelance journalist and the author of The Khaarijee: A Chronicle of Friendship and War in Kabul and What Wars Leave Behind: The Faceless and the Forgotten. He is a recipient of the Studs Terkel Prize for writing about the working classes and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in journalism. His work has been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing, Best American Essays, and Best American Nonrequired Reading.