Only first names are used for all the characters. From the outset, this device has the effect of making the reader feel privy to a clandestine group of travelers. It creates an air similar to that of immigrants gathered and trying to cross a border: The travelers are interdependent, and they may bond for a time without really belonging to one another, and soon they will all go their separate ways. In the same way, readers will accompany the characters in the book for a time, then depart to their own lives. It is as if these characters are ephemeral, quickly disappearing as if they were never real. Engel employs this technique to add to the haunting quality of relating the gravity of their stories without giving any lasting resolution to their lives.

The absence of last names creates an air of universality to the characters as well. Mauro embodies every father separated by deportment from his wife and children. Elena represents every undocumented woman who finds herself alone, the victim of a rape she cannot report. Karina is every dreamer—even though she did not sign up for DACA—capable of great things while being robbed of real opportunity by her status and trapped in uncertainty.