Q&A: Authors of New Beacon Press Book Explain ‘Inhumane Math’ of Undocumented Life

A new book on the real-life experiences of being undocumented in the United States aims to show the untold cost many immigrants pay for life in another country.

The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math releases on June 17. In an interview with UU World, the book’s coauthors Alix Dick and Antero Garcia share insight on their collaboration and what many immigrants go through to stay.

Dick is a filmmaker, researcher, and writer, who is originally from Sinaloa, Mexico. She is the coeditor and founder of La Cuenta, an online publication centering the perspectives of individuals labeled as undocumented.

Garcia is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University. Prior to completing his PhD, he was an English teacher at a public high school in South Central Los Angeles.

Their responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

What are some things that you hope readers will take away from The Cost of Being Undocumented?

Dick: I would like people to understand that the decisions that immigrants make were never made lightly. Nobody leaves home by choice. When people read this book, I want them to understand that what happened to me could happen to anybody. It’s a privilege to think that tragedy will never hit you.

Garcia: Taking the “cost” part of the title, I hope readers see that the costs of undocumented life are so much more than just financial numbers. Sure, we offer a financial estimate of what living undocumented has cost Alix at the end of the book. However, more importantly, I want readers to understand the toll of living away from family, of navigating language and social barriers, of losing the opportunities for youthful joy in a new country. The financial costs also go both ways: while existing economic reports point to the fact that undocumented individuals actually provide a net-benefit to the U.S. economy, Alix’s story also highlights the ways wage theft, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and inaccessible university costs actually extract even more income for the most marginalized individuals in this country.

The story you tell revolves around one individual and is written in first-person. What inspired you to choose this approach for the book?

Dick: We wanted to make the book more powerful by combining the elements of memoir and research because we think that people will have a better understanding if you blend personal stories with data and science.

Garcia: When we wrote this book, we wanted people to get to know and meet one single individual who happens to be labeled undocumented: Alix. We want readers to get to know her and parts of her life across the pages of this book. Too often, we see folks talking about immigrants and the undocumented community as a large homogenous population. They are treated like a non-human blob rather than individuals with personal experiences and histories. We’re hoping readers get to meet Alix in these pages and consider the millions of others whose stories also merit their own telling.

How did you collaborate in the writing process, drawing on both of your distinct perspectives and expertise?

Dick: Our process was unusual. We used whatever was available in the moment. Sometimes voice recordings, sometimes photos, sometimes videos that turned into notes and memos for us to write the book.

Garcia: I’m used to research methods where we anonymize and downplay the voices of research “subjects.” This book is a push against that kind of writing. At every stage we collaborated on what kind of data and research to pursue in the book as well as what aspects of Alix’s life to present. As we focused on centering a loosely chronological arc related to Alix’s experiences in the U.S., we spent substantial time thinking about what costs and empirical data make sense for different aspects of the book.

As you observe in the book, the voices and stories of undocumented people in the United States are frequently marginalized. How do you think sharing the experiences and perspectives of undocumented people through art, scholarship, and narratives such as yours can be a force for social justice?

Dick: I think we need more advocates. Nothing will change if people are not fighting for the right cause. This book was created with the hope that we would get more people inspired to fight for social justice and inspired to engage in civic action.

Garcia: In simplest terms, there’s a real need for people to learn, communicate, and care across traditional lines of difference. It is hard to be a part of a movement if you haven’t gotten the opportunity to understand the perspectives and identities of the people for whom you might work alongside. The nature of immigration policy and media right now foregrounds particularly xenophobic assumptions that there are “good” and “bad” immigrants. I think that stories and art by marginalized artists and storytellers can help expose the holes in how immigrants are portrayed in this country right now.

At one point in the book you share your hope that we can build a “different, more compassionate world,” and you quote activist Lillia Watson: “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time, but if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.” Knowing that liberation is collective, how can people who yearn for immigration justice work together to create change?

Dick: The first step is creating awareness. It is hard to fight for me if you don’t know about the many people in situations like mine or my family’s. So, the first step is getting to know the people around you and learning who we are as people living in this country together.

Garcia: This is an unbelievably scary and dark time for immigrants in this country. The kinds of emotional and physical violence—the deportations, detentions, and inhumane raids impacting families right now are unconscionable. Sharing this book now is both terrifying and brave for Alix, and I want to hold that point as we think of how to share hers and others’ voices right now. How often do we talk about the undocumented community rather than listen to people who are undocumented? I want to uplift the bravery for every individual—regardless of immigration status—that is choosing to speak up and work alongside us right now.

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