Item: My (Underground) American Dream
Rating: 3.00
Author: heather

by Julissa Arce

JULISSA ARCE knows firsthand that the most common, preconceived answers to those questions are sometimes far too simple-and often just plain wrong.

On the surface, Arce's story reads like a how-to manual for achieving the American dream: growing up in an apartment on the outskirts of San Antonio, she worked tirelessly, achieved academic excellence, and landed a coveted job on Wall Street, complete with a six-figure salary. The level of professional and financial success that she achieved was the very definition of the American dream. But in this brave new memoir, Arce digs deep to reveal the physical, financial, and emotional costs of the stunning secret that she, like many other high-achieving, successful individuals in the United States, had been forced to keep not only from her bosses, but even from her closest friends.

From the time she was brought to this country by her hardworking parents as a child, Arce-the scholarship winner, the honors college graduate, the young woman who climbed the ladder to become a vice president at Goldman Sachs-had secretly lived as an undocumented immigrant. In this surprising, at times heart-wrenching, but always inspirational personal story of struggle, grief, and ultimate redemption, Arce takes readers deep into the little-understood world of a generation of undocumented immigrants in the United States today- people who live next door, sit in your classrooms, work in the same office, and may very well be your boss. By opening up about the story of her successes, her heartbreaks, and her long-fought journey to emerge from the shadows and become an American citizen, Arce shows us the true cost of achieving the American dream-from the perspective of a woman who had to scale unseen and unimaginable walls to get there.

Julissa Arce's parents were working legally in the United States while she and her older sisters lived with her extended family in Mexico. Her younger brother was born in the United States. When Julissa started acting out in school at age 11, her parents brought her to live with them. She had no idea that it was illegal for her to go to school. She didn't know that she had outstayed her visa until her mother explained that she couldn't go back to Mexico for her quinceanera because she wouldn't be able to come back into the United States.

She was a star student but was not accepted to any colleges because she didn't have a social security number. At this point Texas passed a law that allowed undocumented students to go to college at Texas state schools. This allowed her to be able to go to school.

I was conflicted when reading this book. I think people should follow the rules of the country they live in. I also think that it should be much, much easier for people to come to the United States from Latin America so people aren't required to sneak into the country. Julissa also buys fake documents as an adult to be able to get a job. I can see that she was brought into the country by her parents and she had no intent to do anything wrong at that point, but now she was actively breaking the law because she felt she was entitled to stay here and get a very high paying job. She talked a little bit about whether or not she should go back to Mexico because she would be able to get a very good job so it wasn't like she didn't have options. She also marries specifically get to a green card. The more unethical things she does, the less sympathy I retained for her.

This book made me understand the issues around children of undocumented immigrants. They are stuck as they become adults. I think there should be a way for these children to be able to be legally documented.

First come first served and if you want to throw in a few dollars for shipping that would be great but not required.This review was originally posted on Based On A True Story

My (Underground) American Dream

by Julissa Arce

Reviewed by Heather on May 27, 2016

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