About this item
In an era of increasing anti-immigrant sentiment and bigotry, each of these 13 stories illuminates the issues affecting the Mexican community and shows the breadth of a frequently stereotyped population.Dreamers and their allies, those who care about immigration justice, and anyone interested in the experience of Mexicans in the US will respond to these stories of Mexican immigrants (some documented, some not) illuminating their complex lives. Regardless of status, many are subjected to rights violations, inequality, and violence--all of which existed well before the Trump administration--and have profound feelings of being unwanted in the country they call home. There's Monica Robles, the undocumented mother of three US citizens who is literally confined to a strip of territory between two checkpoints--one at the Mexico border and one twenty-seven miles north of the border. We meet Jeanette Vizguerra, who came to symbolize the sanctuary movement when she took shelter in a Denver church in February 2017 to avoid deportation. (Later that year, Time magazine named her one of the one hundred most influential people in the world.) There's Daniel Rodriguez, the first undocumented immigration lawyer in Arizona to successfully obtain a license to practice. Alberto Mendoza, who suffered persecution as a gay man for years, in 2013 founded Honor 41, a national Latina/o LGBTQ organization that promotes positive images of their community. After crossing the border illegally with his mother as a child, Al Labrada later joined the military to get on a path to citizenship; in March 2017, he was promoted to captain in the Los Angeles Police Department. These and eight other stories will broaden how you think about Mexicans in America.
About the Author
Eileen Truax is an awarded journalist with over 20 years of experience in Mexico and the United States. Born in Mexico City, she moved to Los Angeles in 2004. She has covered immigration, politics and US-Mexico issues for different media both in Mexico and the US, such as La Opinión, Hoy Los Ángeles, Reforma and El Universal newspapers, and Proceso, Gatopardo and Newsweek en Español magazines, among others. Her first book is "Dreamers, la lucha de una generación por su sueño americano" (Spanish, Oceáno, 2013) , "Dreamers, an immigrant generation's fight for their American Dream" (English, Beacon Press, 2015) . The book shed light on the situation faced by those young undocumented immigrants brought to the US by their parents when they were very young, and the daily struggle of this generation for their own American Dream. Her first novel, "Fecha de Caducidad" (Spanish, Alfaguara, 2015) , is a love triangle story co-authored with Beatriz Rivas and Armando-Vega Gil. Eileen is also co-author of "72 Migrantes" (Almadía, 2011) and "Tú y yo coincidimos en la noche terrible" (Nuestra Aparente Rendición, 2012) , and she's part of Cuadernos. Colectivo de Cronistas Iberoamericanos. Currently, Eileen is working on her second non-fiction book about the exiled victims of violence from Mexico looking for asylum in the US. Eileen Truax es periodista con más de veinte años de experiencia en México y Estados Unidos. Nació en la Ciudad de México y vive en Los Ángeles desde 2004, en donde ha cubierto los temas de inmigración, política y relación México-Estados Unidos para diversos medios en ambos países, como los diarios La Opinión, Hoy Los Ángeles, Reforma y El Universal, y las revistas Proceso, Gatopardo y Newsweek en Español, entre otras. Su primer libro es "Dreamers, la lucha de una generación por su sueño americano" (Español, Oceáno, 2013; "Dreamers, an immigrant generation's fight for their American Dream", Inglés, Beacon Press, 2015) . Este libro arroja luz sobre la situación que enfrentan los jóvenes inmigrantes indocumentados que fueron llevados a Estados Unidos por sus padres cuando eran pequeños, y la lucha diaria de esta generación por lograr su propio sueño americano. Su primera novela, "Fecha de Caducidad" (Alfaguara, 2015) , es la historia de un triángulo amoroso escrita en coautoría con Beatriz Rivas y Armando-Vega Gil. Eileen también ha sido coautora de "72 Migrantes" (Almadía, 2011) y "Tú y yo coincidimos en la noche terrible" (Nuestra Aparente Rendición, 2012) , y es integrante de Cuadernos. Colectivo de Cronistas Iberoamericanos. Actualmente Eileen trabaja en su segundo libro de no ficción, una historia sobre mexicanos exiliados por la violencia en su país buscando asilo en Estados Unidos.
