By Ana Milena Varón
Los Angeles, US, (EFE).- Salvadoran journalist and writer Soudi Jiménez never thought the anti-immigrant rhetoric of the Trump administration would promote his book Ecos Migrantes (Migrant Echoes), a collection of stories detailing migrants’ resilience in the United States, a necessary and must-read to counteract the xenophobic narrative, Jiménez told EFE.
The book contains 27 stories previously published in the Los Angeles Times, for which Jiménez has been writing for 13 years.
“This selection reflects the struggle of men and women who have come to the US to give their all. It is a small sample of their capacity to adapt and contribute to the community,” Jiménez told EFE in an interview.
The view to compile his reports began in 2023, after two decades of connecting with the migrant community in Los Angeles.
By 2024, he had materialized the idea, just as migration stories were focusing on the wave of foreigners crossing the southern border in search of the “American Dream.” Nonetheless, an editing problem delayed publication.
The narrative on migration in the US changed after US President Donald Trump took office, with a plan to deport at least one million migrants in the first year, something the author did not anticipate.
“It was a coincidence that the book came out this year (2025) just as the massive raids were beginning,” Jiménez explained.
Perfect timing
The author considers it perfect timing as the 27 stories of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, whom Jiménez interviewed, help counteract “the xenophobic narrative awakened” by the Republican government.
The book has been very well received and was recently awarded the Gold Medal at the 2025 International Latino Book Awards at Miracosta College in California.
Jiménez won the award against strong competitors, including Mexican journalist Jorge Ramos, whose book is titled Así Veo Las Cosas (That’s How I See Things), and Venezuelan writer Solanyely Ruiz, whose work is titled Darién: La sombra detrás del Sueño Americano (Darién: The Shadow Behind the American Dream).
Other than the award, the Salvadoran writer is pleased with the positive reception from readers and students, who have invited him to speak on the topic.
“Showing the struggles of migrant people reveals that the narrative portraying migrants as criminals is biased,” said Jiménez.
Jiménez speaks from his own experience as a migrant; he arrived in the US in 2005 and has since strengthened his ties with the migrant community, especially the Central American community.
Beyond the border
The response outside the US to the documented testimonies of migrants like José Zelaya, the only Salvadoran digital designer and animator at Disney Television Animation, and Héctor Echegoyén, a cleaning employee whose work paid for his daughter’s education to study at Harvard, has contributed to reflecting on the issue of migration from a perspective outside US borders.
Jiménez has participated in meetings related to his book in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Colombia, where he has consistently emphasized one message: “The strength of the US has largely been based on migrant labor.”
Furthermore, Jiménez insisted on reminding people that migrants contribute not only to the US economy and development, but also to that of their countries of origin.
Jiménez hopes to spread this message beyond the Americas, connecting with migrants in Asia, Africa, and Europe to open more doors to positive conversations about migration. EFE
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