Review: The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
The Undocumented Americans is a chronicle of experiences of various and mostly older undocumented immigrants and the lives they lead without the ability to find a sense of stability or protection from indignity and abuse. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, the author, is extremely present in this book. She herself is undocumented, and as the book follows the challenges faced by others it parallels similar things in her own life, as well as the physiological toll being undocumented has put on her and her mixed-status family.
Villavicencio does my favorite thing nonfiction can do, which is to have the author be very present in the narrative they are constructing. Especially when the book is about something still ongoing, it seems so disingenuous for an author to pretend their own lense is nonexistent; I would always rather the author be present in their own word than the author attempt to obscure themselves and pretend to be a neutral relayer of information. Everyone has a lens, has life experiences and opinions that affect how they engage with topics; when authors attempt to hide their own, I often find it disingenuous or unexamined.
Villavicencio is very present in this story, her experiences and emotions on the page. She talks about her own mental health right along with discussing the mental health of other undocumented folks. When she writes about the ways families are affected by being undocumented, her own family is invoked, when she talks about people who have American citizens as children, she writes about her own younger brother who was born in the US. I loved seeing her personality and frame of reference so explicit on the page.
The book is split into different cities across the country. In each location, Villavicencio discusses the different challenges faced by people in these far-reaching places. Some of the challenges are broad experiences for the community, racism, being taken advantage of while at work, the fear of deportation causing constant physical and mental stress, and a lack of adequate health care. She treats individuals' stories with respect and care while weaving a narrative and analyzing trends in the community.
I really like reading this kind of compassionate and informative nonfiction.
I gave this book four stars.
