Everything Inside

This story contains Danticat’s clearest depiction of the Trauma of Immigration and her strongest condemnation of the American legal, police, and business systems that endanger the lives of those seeking a new life in the United States. Although Arnold’s life in Haiti is described as “misery” (208), every moment of his life in America is haunted by violence. The story suggests that, at every step, American policies endanger the lives of immigrants, and that these policies can compound to violent effect.

The violence of Arnold’s life in Haiti causes him to spend “all the money he’d been saving up” on passage to a boat bound for America. The story suggests that the presence of traffickers moving migrants between the Caribbean and Miami is a result of American policies: because the immigration system is so complex, people seek methods of entering the country beyond the legal system. As a result of their desperation, these migrants are vulnerable to horrific conditions. In Arnold’s case, “they had run out of clean water halfway through the trip […] and had to drink seawater or their own urine” (205). The traffickers are also prone to acts of random violence, abandoning their passengers—even those who can’t swim—at sea off the Florida coast. The story suggests that the majority of the people on the boat with Arnold drowned. These disturbing details emphasize the violence that results from American immigration policies even before migrants reach the American border.

When Arnold arrives in America, the threat of violence continues. Darline pretends to be Arnold’s wife as they walk away from the beach, avoiding the “helicopters, cruisers, ambulances, and dogs” (205) that accompanied the police to detain migrants on the beach. She warns him about the Krome Detention Center, which she describes as “a prison for people like us” (204). From the perspective of these recent immigrants, the American police and immigration system are presented as an obstacle to overcome, rather than a source of support and protection. As a result of avoiding immigration officials, Arnold is forced to obtain a fake Cuba ID in order to work. The story suggests that Arnold’s bosses are aware that his documents have been fabricated: “they didn’t believe he was ‘Cuban Cuban,’ as they’d said, but since he spoke some Spanish, they thought he’d spent some time there and had taken the name” (212). The company’s willingness to ignore these fabricated documents allows Arnold to obtain employment, but it also absolves them of responsibility for his death.

Ultimately, the story suggests that responsibility for keeping immigrant communities safe lies with other immigrants. Darline is a one-woman aid operation, rescuing Arnold on the beach, connecting him with a shelter, and protecting him from law enforcement officers, who would deport him back to Haiti. The story indicates that Arnold is not the first person that Darline has helped in this way. As he dies, Arnold resolves to try to push Darline back into her advocacy work. At the end of the story, Arnold can be seen as a guardian angel affirming the work of Darline and other immigration advocates.