Me Thinks

This book really affected me. My heart goes out to the children and youth who are raised in America and grow up in our school system, expecting to go forward with their lives as their peers do, but because of their undocumented status are held back. No matter where one stands on immigration issues, there has got to be a place in your heart for the children and youth who are innocently affected.

Illegality becomes a master status by the time they reach adulthood. As each year passed, they were defined more centrally by their undocumented status (pg. xix).

Their immigration status dramatically shrinks their everyday lives (pg. 4).

Many immigrants live in a state of legal limbo that can persist indefinitely, in some cases without every leading to citizenship or permanent legal status (pg. 9).

It was only as teenagers, when they attempted to participate in the same rites of passage as friends and peers--acquiring a driver's license, getting a job, or taking a trip out of town--that they suddenly found themselves facing barriers (pg. 97).

Even after completing a college education and earning a degree, many college goers are bound to return home to illegality, a regressive slide into a life of limited choices and the ever-present threat of removal (pg. 173).

If currently undocumented youth and young adults were granted a pathway to legalization they would improve their circumstances and be in a better position to contribute to the U.S. economy as well as to their families and local communities (pg. 230).