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Book Cover
E-book
Author N., José Ángel

Title Illegal : reflections of an undocumented immigrant / José Ángel N
Published Urbana : University of Illinois Press, 2014

Copies

Description 1 online resource
Series Latinos in Chicago and Midwest
Latinos in Chicago and Midwest
Contents Machine generated contents note: 1. Amid the Shadows -- 2. Of Things Lost -- 3. My Adult Education -- 4. Song of the Cicadas -- 5. At Work -- 6. Day I Got Counted
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 Print version record
Subject Navejas, José Ángel.
SUBJECT Navejas, José Ángel fast
Subject Noncitizens -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography
Mexicans -- Illinois -- Chicago -- Biography
Illegal immigration -- Illinois -- Chicago
Noncitizens.
Undocumented Immigrants
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Cultural Heritage.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Literary.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Personal Memoirs.
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Social Scientists & Psychologists.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Discrimination & Race Relations.
SOCIAL SCIENCE -- Minority Studies.
Illegal immigration
Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects
Noncitizens
Mexicans
Noncitizens.
SUBJECT United States -- Emigration and immigration -- Social aspects
Subject Illinois -- Chicago
United States
Genre/Form autobiographies (literary works)
Autobiographies
Biographies
Biographies.
Autobiographies.
Biographies.
Autobiographies.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 0252096185
1306407079
9780252096181
9781306407076