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crossing borders book cover

CROSSING BORDERS

The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants

More than an exposé of the forces for bad, CROSSING BORDERS shares strategies designed to stem the tides of fear and hate, finding trails that lead to the reconciliation of our nation of immigrants.

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Ali Noorani shares Crossing Borders at TedXBoston in November 2021

Praise for Crossing Borders

“Ali Noorani gently helps those of us who have been too blind or too busy to see what we have missed in our responsibilities to offer all people dignity, love our neighbor, and care for the stranger. He helps us see that the stories we’ve been told by our “community” about immigrants are grounded in fear, not fact; hate, not love. And he gives us hope through examples of unlikely alliances among by small groups of people with the courage to step outside of their community’s norms and offer dignity to fellow human beings.”

- Elizabeth Neumann, Former DHS Assistant Secretary for Counterterrorism and Threat Prevention

“Ali Noorani knows immigration. CROSSING BORDERS is authoritative and objective – passionate, yet surprisingly hopeful. This book is crucial to our understanding of American immigration and therefore of America.”

- Al Franken

“CROSSING BORDERS chronicles how politicians and pundits manipulate our fear of outsiders, encircling us in fear and blame, like coils of razor wire. But every so often, as Ali Noorani captures in vivid detail, there are mayors, police chiefs and business people who decline to be used in this way. Indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand how Americans can reclaim our own basic decency.”

– Amanda Ripley, journalist and bestselling author of The Smartest Kids in the World and High Conflict

“Immigration policy is complex and endlessly challenging on a good day. And the politics, always dicey, have become toxic. Fortunately for all of us, Ali Noorani has dedicated his life to bringing humanity and thoughtfulness to the issue. His moral clarity and searching intelligence are more important than ever. His is truly a voice we should all heed.”

– Jonathan Blitzer, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

“In an era of symbolic politics, when borders have become the organizing principle for how we legitimize disputes, resolve our own questions of identity and even contrive a sense of meaning and purpose, Ali Noorani steps into their manifestation in the U.S. immigration debate and powerfully disentangles their hold. Crossing Borders is a moving portrait of a country confused and contorted by caricature, even as it invites fresh courage for all who feel and are displaced.”

– Anne Snyder, Editor-in-Chief, Comment Magazine

“In their efforts to flee violence, natural disaster, or to seek a warm meal to feed their family, I have seen how immigrants and refugees are pinned against borders around the world. Wrapped around stories of those who would scale any obstacle in search of a better future for their children, Ali Noorani unpacks the ugliness of the politics and policies of immigration, charting a path forward that serves the national interest and helps all of us become our better selves.”

– José Andrés

“Perhaps no issue at this moment is so filled with passion and rage as immigration. I do not know of anyone alive more knowledgeable on the legal, moral, and cultural aspects of immigration than Ali Noorani. This book, a combination of memoir and analysis, frames how we arrived at this crisis, and how to go forward. The book never exchanges utopianism for realism nor does it ever exchange despair for hope. In this way, this book can help anyone to think through how to build coalitions, how to seek to persuade skeptics, and how to press on against daunting odds.”

– Russell Moore, Christianity Today

Articles & Media

More than I could ever imagine

June 5, 2022 Articles
The next day, as their 52+ years of life together on earth came to an end, Mom and Dad held hands, cracked wise, shared their …
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Thank you for the invitation

May 13, 2022 Articles
Lady is very grateful It is a weird thing leaving a job you love. After 18 years in the immigration movement, 14 of them leading the Forum, I suppose …
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The Case for Welcoming Immigrants

April 29, 2022 Media
Alison Beard, Harvard Business Review One of the best lines in the musical Hamilton comes as its hero, Alexander, the American revolutionary born in Nevis, and Lafayette, his …
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Podcast: Immigration and the Problem at the Border

April 24, 2022 Uncategorized
The Biden administration plans to end use of Title 42, the pandemic-era border policy, next month. The governor of Texas is busing migrants to the …
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I know. Immigration news can feel pretty overwhelming. Well, my newsletter, Crossing Borders, aims to pick apart the politics, policies and culture that comes with migration. Sometimes it will be serious; sometimes sad; sometimes funny. I’ll mix it up. 

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About the Author

Ali Noorani is president & chief executive officer of the National Immigration Forum, a nonpartisan advocacy organization working with faith, law enforcement and business leaders to promote the value of immigrants and immigration. Through innovative constituency, communications and advocacy strategies, Ali is one of the nation’s most creative coalition builders.

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