Why the Undocumented Belong to America: The Experience of Rosa Robles Loreto and Eleven Million Others - Paperback

by Denise Holley (Author)

Rosa Robles Loreto was chasing the American dream. She believed that her hard work cleaning houses demonstrated the determination and initiative the United States wanted. But after a minor traffic incident she was ordered deported.

Rosa's situation isn't unique. Journalist Denise Holley explains how the United States has criminalized immigration, the very process that built this country. She shows how undocumented farmworkers employed in the orchards of Washington and the vineyards of California underpin our economy. Her book examines:

• the impact of the 1965 act that ended national quotas but criminalized seasonal migration;
• the lives transformed by the 1986 amnesty law that allowed 2.7 million people to legalize their status but penalized employers who hired undocumented workers;
• the effects of the 1996 law that imposed a ten-year ban on reentry for immigrants who crossed the border illegally and stayed for more than a year;
• the ways churches, humanitarian groups, and immigrant communities are fighting prejudiced laws.

Author Biography

Denise Holley spent twenty-four years writing for newspapers and nonprofit organizations, including three years on the US-Mexico border. Her work has won ten local and statewide awards for reporting. Currently, she helps edit a newsletter for No More Deaths, a migrant aid organization. She lives with her boyfriend on a small ranch outside of Tucson, Arizona.