We Are Here To Stay: Voices of Undocumented Young Adults

Gr 5 Up—While the nine young adults who tell their stories in Kuklin's moving new volume came to the United States from different countries, there are commonalities among them beyond the tenuous situations in which they still find themselves. Narratives detailing their experiences with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, border security, and their feelings about assimilating into U.S. society while leaving behind their homelands are illuminating. In order to protect the participants, they are identified only by first initials, empty frames have replaced photographs of them, and all means of identifying them were removed. Kuklin shares her hope that one day the book will be reissued with the photographs and names intact, though the current format effectively demonstrates that many young people have to live hidden in plain sight. A notes and resources section includes a time line about executive actions and immigration law from 1790 through 2017 as well as a list of websites of interest for undocumented immigrants and those seeking information about them.