Summary of The Undocumented Americans Book by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio

When Donald Trump was about to become president in 2016, all immigrants began to feel utterly uncertain about their future. He was talking about the wall between Mexico and America, deportations, and anti-immigrant policies. The author of this book, Karla Villavicencio, was only 21 years old when she first realized that she might have no future in America. A gifted girl with good prospects ceased feeling confident about any ambitions and thought of writing a book. When Trump announced his plans on undocumented Americans many years later, she started writing it to tell the stories of immigrant people, such as Juan and Joaquin.

Julian had to traverse the desert four times to reach the border and meet with his kids. He hired people to help him cross the border because it was dangerous due to the extreme temperatures in the desert. He even met individuals who these border helpers abandoned in the desert since the latter couldn’t perform their job sober. It was too perilous. Some of these individuals couldn't survive the crossing.

Due to family separations that often happen because one of the spouses lives across the border, immigrants aim to build new families. Dreaming about a new family, Julian wanted to give birth to a baby girl who could speak both English and Spanish. He dreamed of taking this child to the cinema and was ready to try to understand the jokes in the cartoons and how he would visit all her school conferences and speak English without her help.

Joaquin also crossed the border four times but had to meet the narcos (terrible guys who maintain drug trafficking) to do so. Narcos take the immigrants through wild nature straight to the destination. But it isn't easy because they have to climb a mountain carrying a huge backpack. Unfortunately, Joaquin's backpack was torn in the climb, and he realized that he couldn't go further because he lost his water and food as a result. He was so exhausted that he said he was done—the equivalent of admitting that you want to die. Thankfully, two young men helped him climb to the top.

The Undocumented Americans will help you understand how immigrants feel about living in the US. You will realize which challenges they have to overcome and what motivation they have. You will learn what they are going through to survive in a foreign country and what makes them the same as any American.