Monday, June 13, 2016

In the Country We Love - Diane Guerrero

Diane Guerrero is an American actress who I have seen in Orange is the New Black, but also appears in Jane the Virgin.  She wrote this memoir to tell the story about her family, her young Columbian parents who stayed in the US without green cards to try and do their best for Diane and her older brother.  As illegal immigrants they had no choice but to rely on other people to help them with housing where they could pay cash, low paying jobs and trying to stay a step ahead of the authorities.  This also left them vulnerable to the scammers who charge them money to help get their papers , but instead of helping them just rip them off.

When she was 14 her parents were arrested and then sent back to Colombia, leaving Diane alone in the  US, having to ask for help from her friends parents for somewhere to stay while at high school, and alone to find the money for college.

In a time when immigration is such a hot topic, it is interesting to read about a first hand experience, from a group of people that are seldom represented.  With an estimated 11 million unauthorized immigrants in the US you can understand why that there are lots of issues being argued about.   4/5

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