The Undocumented Americans: with high hopes, it was a disappointment

The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio was a National Book Award Finalist and set out to tell the stories of the undocumented Americans who live and work around us everyday. Cornejo Villavicencio was on DACA, a graduate from Yale,  when she decided to write about being undocumented and explores the lives of other undocumented people. From New York City and the undocumented workers who worked during the clean up at Ground Zero after 9/11 to Miami, as undocumented individuals must seek our herbs and potions as their only healthcare option to Flint, Michigan and the water crisis to Cleveland where immigrants seek sanctuary in churches to avoid deportation and Connecticut where she helps out immigrant families. Featuring stories of love, duty, family and survival, these immigrants come to America to flee war, oppression, and certain death. As she states in the Introduction, a book “for everybody who wants to step away from the buzzwords in immigration” and read about the people. Cornejo Villavicencio sets out to bring personal narratives to bring forth stories of resilience to understand what it means to be a stray, expendable, a hero, and an American. 

I was intrigued by the premises of The Undocumented Americans, with high hopes. What I got was disappointment. I expected stories of the undocumented and what I read was more of a memoir of the author’s own experience as an undocumented and her journey interacting with the individuals for this book. Everything she discusses comes back to her own experiences, thoughts and feelings that leaves the other individuals’ stories by the wayside. It’s her accomplishments, like graduating from Yale, and her good deeds. Her commentary is frustrating and annoying as she uses insensitive phrases and excuses herself by saying, “it’s not racist when I say it.” And the profanity! WOW! Nonstop! She states that she doesn’t write from a place of anger, unfortunately, she fails. She sees microaggressions everywhere. At one point she complains that Mexicans have to dial 011 to call someone in Mexico. Doesn’t she realize that’s how international calls work? If I wanted to call someone outside the US, I would have to dial 011 too. I feel the stories and people she features get lost. This book was the opposite of what I thought it would be and I do not recommend The Undocumented Americans. 

The Undocumented Americans is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook.