The Undocumented Americans

It is a very, very complicated time to be an immigrant. At a time when both my home country and adopted country are embracing more and more anti-immigrant rhetoric, I decided to pick up The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio.

This part-memoir, part-manifesto is such a compelling read, and an important one for understanding the role immigration has played in the American story. Villavicencio doesn’t seek to tell the stories of only ‘good immigrants’, but instead of the immigrants whose lives intersect with all aspects of American culture and recent history, along with her personal experiences as a DACA recipient at Harvard, often labeled a ‘good immigrant’ herself. The narrative is split into different chapters, each focused on the residents of one particular city. The water in Flint, Michigan, the dust of Ground Zero–it all comes into play. This really did open my eyes to news stories I wasn’t aware of, especially of how the recession led to many factories and farms across the US to push out immigrant workers, documented or not, for the ‘positive PR’ of saying they would only hire Americans.

This is a short read, but an impactful one. Villavicencio takes the time to set the scene and establish her subjects as humans beyond campaign promises and stock footage on the news. It also explores a lot of Villavicencio’s own life, especially her struggles with mental illness. These passages aren’t always the easiest to read, but I’m refreshed by Villaciencio’s honesty and her passion for the often-unaddressed cause of immigrant mental health, especially crucial to consider among a population that cannot obtain health insurance.

This can be a frustrating read, mostly in part due to the fact that Villavicencio can’t really tell the full stories of her subjects–people stop responding to her messages, move away, or just don’t want to be public about their status anymore. The narrative can feel a bit inconclusive, and for those who want their nonfiction to make a Big Point About Something, The Undocumented Americans might not fulfill that. But if you want to learn more about immigration beyond the headlines and the scaremongering, there’s no real subsitute for firsthand accounts, and this is one of the best out there.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

As the title itself suggests this book is about undocumented Americans. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio never treats the people she is writing of as passive ‘subjects’, or worst still ‘objects’, her gaze is neither voyeuristic nor impersonal. She does not give the impression that she is filtering their experiences and stories, even if she admits early on that due to privacy she may or may not have altered names and specific/recognisable details. In the interactions she has with those who are undocumented she isn’t a stoic journalist or interviewer, she doesn’t only ask questions. She shares her own thoughts, feelings, and circumstances with them, and often seems to form a bond with them. Which is what sets apart The Undocumented Americans from other works that wish to elevate the voices of those who are so often silenced.

Villavicencio isn’t interested in relating stories of those deemed ‘exceptions’, as exceptionalism ignores narratives that are not deemed ‘extraordinary’. Throughout the course of 6 chapters, moving across America—Staten Island, Miami, Cleveland, Flint, New Haven—Villavicencio reveals the complex lives, identities, and histories of undocumented immigrants. The voices she ‘collects’ in these chapters belong to day labourers, housekeepers, family members who have been separated from their loved ones, those who have lost loved ones because they do not have medical insurance, those who have been or are still being affected by the Flint water crisis, and the first responders to 9/11.
The people Villavicencio connects with do not want our sympathy or pity. They share their experiences with her hoping perhaps that their stories will reach those in need, those who perhaps like them are being or have been exploited by a country that treats them as ‘illegal’ and ‘aliens’. Even in the UK there is this stereotype of immigrants as lazy when the exact opposite is true. Chances are they work harder and for much less than the ‘natives’, whilst being subjected to all sorts of injustices. Villavicencio challenges this view of immigrants as criminals, lazy, welfare cheats, ‘less than’. She also confronts the myth of the ‘American Dream’ as she comes across people who do nothing but work, yet, no matter their hard work they risk being deported or are forced to turn to ineffective herbal remedies in order to cure serious illnesses or health problems they probably have developed while working physically and emotionally draining jobs and/or in dangerous environments.

Villavicencio speaks frankly and readers will feel her anger and sadness. She confronts the realities of being an immigrant, of working unfathomable hours for little or no money, of being treated unfairly, of experiencing health issues and being unable to seek treatment. However sobering their stories are, the people she writes demonstrate commendable qualities. They are multi-faceted individuals and their stories will undoubtedly resonate with many.
Villavicencio is an empathetic writer, who shares her own experiences and feelings throughout the course of this work. While this is a read that will both incense and depress you, it will also (hopefully) make you want to do something about it.

Although I live outside of America, immigrants do not face an easier life here in Europe. There are “immigration removal centres” (who thought that the word ‘removal’ would be okay when speaking of HUMAN BEINGS?), governments which are willing to let people drown rather than reach their shores (and at times orchestrate these shipwrecks), collude with other governments in order to stop people from leaving their countries….the list of horrors go on. I urge you, if you are in a position to donate to charities such as 'The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants' and 'Migrant Help' (these are UK based) to do so.

The Undocumented Americans is a heart-breaking, urgent, thoughtful work. Villavicencio is a talented writer whose prose is both eloquent and raw. I will definitely read whatever she publishes next.

This is a really urgent and thoughtful book that will be such a valuable addition to the school library when it is published. I think it is vital that both school and publishers elevate these silenced voices.

It sounds like hyperbole but I was truly blown away by The Undocumented Americans. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio tells the stories of many undocumented Americans, originally from South and Central America -- not the types of inspirational stories we see commonly in the media (such as DREAMers), but those of immigrants who helped with the 9/11 clean-up, undocumented day labourers and those impacted upon by the Flint water crisis.

Cornejo Villavicencio was herself one of the first undocumented immigrants who was admitted to Harvard, and this book provides access to the lives and stories of people who many of us would otherwise never learn about. The book also tells her own family story (only her brother is documented out of their family of four) and how the relationships she forms with the people she interviews influence her own outlook.

Required reading for everyone, I think this will be one of my top non-fiction reads of 2021. Highly recommended.

The author, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, one of the first undocumented Americans to graduate from Harvard, uses her experiences and voice to amplify the experiences of others in her community. In this book, she interviews undocumented workers from Venezuela, Ecuador, and Mexico all across the US; the people who worked to clean up Ground Zero, the people from Flint, Michigan, whose water supplies were poisoned by lead, the people who seek sanctuary in churches because ICE won’t enter, the people who are just trying to survive in a country where everything is stacked against them.
She challenges misconceptions - for example, undocumented people must pay taxes, but they don’t have access to the benefits, like a social security number.
She tells the stories of how the immigration process and the status of being undocumented contributes to mental health issues. These are not inspirational stories, these are the real lives of the majority of people who go to the US to try and give better opportunities to their kids. It humanises people who the Government tries to dehumanise.

I’m not American. I’m no longer an immigrant, having moved back to my country of birth. And I wasn’t aware of many of the issues covered in this book, even the Trail of Tears, so very grateful to have my eyes opened and to have this jumping point to begin further research.
If you read one book this year, make it this one. It’s raw, it’s heartbreaking, it’s unbelievably informative and eye opening.

This book!

Karla Cornejo Villavincencio has shown that feminist research is possible. That you can put out a meaningful body of work where you are not removed from it because all research is subjective. That Undocumented Americans are not a faceless brown mass crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. That being documented goes far beyond the ability to live and work freely and can hinder your access to food, dignified work or water.

The Undocumented Americans blew me away. I am buying this book for everyone.

This is not an easy book to read, but a book many should be reading. Karla goes into specific stories in the chapters (9/11, Flint etc) which really opened my eyes even more to what undocumented Americans go through. It is heartbreaking and you should keep tissues near. It was very good to read there are more and more organizations and individuals popping up helping undocumented people. But it is horrifying how little has changed.