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Book Cover
E-book
Author Angel Navejas, José

Title Illegal : reflections of an undocumented immigrant / José Ángel Navejas ; F. González-Crussi, foreword
Published Urbana, Illinois : University of Illinois Press, 2014
©2014

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Description 1 online resource (137 pages)
Series Latinos in Chicago and the Midwest
Latinos in Chicago and the Midwest.
Contents Title Page -- CONTENTS -- Foreword by F. González-Crussi -- 1. Amid the Shadows -- 2. Of Things Lost -- 3. My Adult Education -- 4. The Song of the Cicadas -- 5. At Work -- 6. The Day I Got Counted -- Postscript
Summary "A day after N. first crossed the U.S. 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 forever. Illegal: Reflections of an Undocumented Immigrant is his timely and compelling memoir of building a new life in America. Authorial anonymity is required to protect this life. Arriving in the 1990s with a 9th grade education, N. traveled to Chicago where he found access to ESL classes 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 official legal documentation. Travel concerns made big promotions out of reach. Vacation time was spent hiding at home, pretending that he was on a long-planned trip. 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." "-- Provided by publisher
Notes English
Print version record
Subject N., José Ángel
SUBJECT Navejas, José Ángel fast
Subject Mexicans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography
Noncitizens -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography
Illegal immigration -- Illinois -- Chicago
Noncitizens
Illegal immigration
Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects
Mexicans
SUBJECT United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects
Subject Illinois -- Chicago
United States
Genre/Form Biographies
Biographies.
Biographies.
Form Electronic book
Author Gonzalez-Crussi, F
ISBN 9780252096181
0252096185
0252038312
9780252038310
0252079868
9780252079863