Diane Guerrero: Author, Actress, and Advocate for Immigration Reform
Part of the dual privilege of having white skin and being born in America affords me many luxuries I take for granted. Prior to the presidential election of 2016, I never gave too much thought about my status as a natural-born citizen or that of my parents, grandparents, or other family members. Immigration has always been a topic that has never caused me excess worry, or affected me enough to even develop an educated opinion. As a white, natural-born American I have never been made to question whether or not I belong, an facet of my life that I always overlooked, never realizing the magnitude of this privilege.
I don’t think she meant to, but Diane Guerrero called me out for my absent-minded privilege. I’m glad she did.
I was first introduced to Diane as Maritza Ramos, her character on the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black. I was unfamiliar with any of the actors in the series and after watching a few seasons of the show, I began to follow several of them on Instagram, including Diane. In the past year I also began watching Jane the Virgin, a hilarious show that tells the story of how the title character, Jane (a virgin), becomes pregnant after accidentally being artificially inseminated during what was supposed to be a routine OB-GYN visit. A few episodes into the series I came across a familiar face. As it turns out, Miss Guerrero moonlights as Jane’s best friend, Lena. This chick was starting to pop up everywhere. Around this time I also began to notice her more on Instagram, as she was promoting her book In the Country We Love: My Family Divided. After several months I came across the memoir in a Barnes and Noble and decided to give it a try.
Growing up, Diane Guerrero experienced unimaginable tragedy. Being an American-born child of undocumented immigrants, she was raised by parents with their fingers pressed to their lips, her youth shadowed by the weight of a secret that would eventually tear apart her family. At fourteen years old, her worst fear became her reality as her parents were deported back to Colombia. Somehow she fell through bureaucratic cracks, relying on the generosity of family and friends for food and shelter as she was forced to brave the world on her own.
Although heartbreaking, her experience is not unique. Since 2008 over 3 million undocumented immigrants have been deported from the United States. In her memoir, Diane reveals the human aspect of an issue that is too often tossed around as a decisive political platform. She brings a tenderness, humility, and vulnerability into the larger immigration conversation. The characters in her story are human beings, not “aliens,” not “illegals,” but people. Diane’s story is emotional and well-written, a dangerous combination that threatens to shake readers down to their core. Nonetheless, Miss Guerrero remains clear to the purpose of her writing:
“Because on that afternoon when I came home to an empty house, I felt like the only child who’d ever dealt with something so overwhelming. And in the agonizing years that followed, it would've meant everything for me to know that someone, somewhere had survived what I was going through.”
As I previously mentioned, reading In the Country We Love: My Family Divided is a major privilege check. As Diane struggled to support herself, I was able to be a careless teenager. I was able to enjoy so many luxuries throughout my adolescence and early adulthood without batting an eyelash. As tacky as the phrase may be, it persists: the personal is political. Due to her identity as a child of deported undocumented immigrants, Diane makes a raw, emotional call for immigration reform that drowns out the voices of politicians, newscasters, and advocacy groups.
In the 2016 presidential election campaign season, Donald Trump dragged immigration to the forefront of the political realm. Since being elected he has lead a war against non-white people in America, tightening our borders and imposing unprecedented restrictions on immigration. In the past twenty-four hours alone he has advocated for cherry-picking immigrants, restricting access to America only to those with highly-sought after skill sets and who are fluent in English. This legislation, known as the RAISE Act, would further restrict immigration and also lower the overall number of people who can enter the country legally. For undocumented workers, pathways to immigration are already bleak. Obtaining United States citizenship can take anywhere from several years to several decades.
“This is America. Speak English!” is a battle cry among anti-immigrant bigots. Earlier today Stephen Miller, a senior policy advisor to the Trump administration, erroneously claimed that “right now it’s a requirement that, to be naturalized, you have to speak English,” which many news sources were quick to point out, isn’t 100% true. There is an English test that must be passed, however, it does not require individuals to be fluent. If the test is failed, individuals may retake the test within ninety days. Nonetheless, the whole concept of an English test seems ironic given that the United States does not have an official language (although many states do).
Throughout the election Trump was unpopular among may marginalized populations, including Black and Latino voters. He challenged this lack of support, and infamously tried to garner support from the African-American community by asking “What do you have to lose?” For racial and ethnic minority groups in America, the stakes could not be higher. This is especially true for Latino Americans and undocumented immigrants from Central America. Prior to being deported, Diane Guerrero’s mother was told by a guard at the detention center that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) only goes after people when they get a tip. Vox reports that during Obama’s tenure, ICE officials were “generally under instructions to arrest people identified in advance — and only those people.” This precedent seems to not have withstood the test of Trump’s presidency. In late July, John Kelly--rising chief of staff and current Homeland Security Secretary--targeted fewer than 200 individuals, but detained over 650 undocumented immigrants. Deportation makes re-entering the country extremely challenging, and a path to citizenship near impossible. As Diane Guerrero describes in her memoir, the forced removal of undocumented immigrants breaks up families, puts children at risk, and causes severe emotional and mental trauma. Racial profiling also means that American citizens are also at risk of mistaken identity and consequential detention, such as the case of Davino Watson.
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided includes many examples of how Diane’s parents were treated unfairly due to their status as undocumented immigrants. Throughout her childhood, both her parents work multiple low-wage jobs. Often, they are paid sub-minimum wage, humiliated, and have no means to advocate for better working conditions. While she is in middle school, the Guerrero family hears about an immigration lawyer with a Harvard degree who helps undocumented immigrants apply for citizenship. For years, her father makes monthly payments to the lawyer only to find out that he was a con artist. These are just a few of the many ways in which families are taken advantage of in order to exist in the shadows and hide their immigration status.
Diane Guerrero goes beyond simply telling her story to advocate for immigration reform and undocumented families. She has partnered with the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC), written op-eds, and been recognized by former President Barack Obama for her activism. The final chapter to her book is titled “A Call to Action.” Here, she focuses on overlooked aspects of undocumented immigration, such as the impact deportation has on children, the negative effects of tearing apart families apart, and the incredibly valid reasons people have for leaving their home countries in the first place. In the Country We Love: My Family Divided is an emotional read, but is undoubtedly a book that you can’t put down until you’re finished. Indeed, in many ways the book is political, but at its core it’s the story of how a remarkable young women overcomes unimaginable hurdles to make it in America.
Interested in reading In the Country We Love: My Family Divided? Pick it up on Amazon!
Make a difference today! Contact your senator today and tell them to oppose the RAISE Act OR check out these resources recommended by Diane Guerrero on how to get involved:
