Like most people on bookstagram, I initially added The Undocumented Americans to my wishlist because of @lupita.reads, @idleutopia_reads and @booksteahenny's undying love for it. I was holding out for a paperback copy, but then @thestackspod announced it as the September book club pick, where Traci would be discussing it with Lupita so I went ahead and downloaded the audiobook from @librofm instead! This was an excellent decision, as it's narrated by the author, Karla Cornejo Villavicencio, and I love hearing authors narrate their own work. There's a surprising amount of humour in this book, and hearing Villavicencio deliver that deadpan wit was perfect.

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The Undocumented Americans is mix of personal memoir and the stories of other undocumented Americans across America. We travel with Villavicencio to New York, Miami, Connecticut, and Flint, where she unearths stories that mainstream media doesn't care for. She talks to the day labourers, those who cleaned up at Ground Zero after 9/11, which later resulted in illnesses because of the exposure to hazardous materials. She visits Flint where lead in the water poisoned Latinx residents who were unaware of the crisis because the US government did not provide information in Spanish. These are all people who make up the fabric of US society, doing back-breaking labour to provide for their families, and yet America refuses to welcome them.

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I loved how Villavicencio talked about her translations of these stories at the beginning. So often in the media, journalists resort to crude, word-by-word translations which result in a stilted English. Instead, she takes the approach of a literary translator for a poem. She captures the heart of what they're saying, rather than transliterating with clumsy results that reflect badly on the speaker. The people Villavicencio talks to are more than just subjects: they become like family to her.

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If you're looking for a book about immigration in America then this is it. I loved the conversation between Lupita and Traci at The Stacks too, so do check it out along with Villavicencio's episode as well!