A day after José Ángel N. first crossed the United States border from
Mexico, he was caught and then released onto the streets of Tijuana.
Undeterred, N. crawled back through a tunnel to San Diego, where he
entered the United States to stay. Illegal: Reflections of an
Undocumented Immigrant is his timely and compelling memoir of building
a new life in America.
Arriving in the 1990s with a ninth grade education, N. traveled to
Chicago where he found access to ESL and GED classes. He eventually
attended college and graduate school and became a professional
translator.
Despite having a well-paying job, N. was isolated by a lack of legal
documentation. Travel concerns made promotions impossible. The simple
act of purchasing his girlfriend a beer at a Cubs baseball game caused
embarrassment and shame when N. couldn't produce a valid ID. A
frustrating contradiction, N. lived in a luxury high-rise condo but
couldn't fully live the American dream. He did, however, find solace in
the one gift America gave him--his education. Ultimately, N.'s is the
story of the triumph of education over adversity. In Illegal, he
debunks the stereotype that undocumented immigrants are freeloaders
without access to education or opportunity for advancement. With bravery
and honesty, N. details the constraints, deceptions, and humiliations
that characterize alien life "amid the shadows."