The Undocumented Americans

Family is at the core of many immigration stories, and the author imbues her study of undocumented immigrants with accounts of her own family within the larger context of the community. Accessing education for children is certainly a driving factor for relocating to the United States. That was what drove Villavicencio’s parents to bring her up to the United States from Ecuador. The author says of her parents, “they wanted me to have all the educational opportunities they hadn’t had” (5). A worker named Octavio explains, “Everyone who kills themselves through their work is doing this for their children […] If you don’t have kids, why would you kill yourself like this?” (156). The dream to provide for children extends beyond education, too.

In old age, many immigrant parents rely on their children to be the providers and are fully dependent on this help. One woman, Altagracia, even “says the lesson is that it is important to have children who can take care of us when we grow old” (160). Another way children can protect their parents is through citizenship. Villavicencio explains, “An undocumented parent can be sponsored by their American-citizen child when the child turns twenty-one” (162). Children of immigrants only have citizenship under certain conditions, like if they were born in the US, so this is not a course open to everyone, but for many parents it is a much-anticipated lifeline as they enter middle or old age. Villavicencio reflects on this system in the context of her own family. She, born in Ecuador, had “to be the face of [her] family, the hunter, the gatherer,” and her brother “just had to find it in him to do his homework” and turn 21 (162).

Alternatively, when immigrants do not have family to support or be supported by, they suffer from severe loneliness. This is also true of immigrants who are separated from family members either by virtue of immigration in the first place or by deportation. The first case of deportation discussed at length in the book is that of Javier and his family from Ohio. Javier’s parting words to his wife were imploring her to take good care of the children and promising that he would return to be reunited with all of them (121). Both Javier and his family suffered after his deportation. The author explains, “The trauma of being separated from his family and being forcefully removed like a criminal has worn at his mental health,” transforming him into an impatient and angry man (122). He wants the children to move to Mexico so the family can be together again, but his wife, Patricia, explains, “This is their country. The whole point was to allow them to receive an education here” (127). The author cites a study that found, among other grim statistics, “that American-citizen children born to immigrant parents who were detained or deported suffered greater rates of PTSD than their peers” (127). The stakes for staying together for partially documented immigrant families are high, but it’s a hard feat to achieve. Notions of familial obligation drive the immigrant experience, and familial networks provide great support and belonging in a country that systemically excludes immigrants.