UNDERGROUND AMERICA
Narratives of Undocumented Lives
Edited by Peter Orner
Foreword by Luis Alberto Urrea
They arrive from around the world for countless reasons. Many come simply to make a living. Others are fleeing persecution in their native countries. Millions of immigrants risk deportation and imprisonment by living in the U.S. without legal status. They are living underground, with little protection from exploitation at the hands of human smugglers, employers, or law enforcement. Underground America, the third book in the Voice of Witness series, presents the remarkable oral histories of men and women struggling to carve a life for themselves in the U.S.
Among them are:
FARID, an Iranian-American business owner who employs a number of American citizens while he himself remains undocumented. A critic of the Iranian government, he fears for his safety if he is deported back to his native country.
DIANA, who, along with thousands of other Latino workers, helped rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. After completing her job, she and many others were detained and imprisoned for not having proper documentation.
LISO, a South African woman who was the victim of a bait-and-switch immigration scam. She was enticed to come to the U.S. as a religious missionary, but once here, her sponsors forced her into unpaid domestic labor.
[Read the foreword by Luis Alberto Urrea] [Read the introduction by Peter Orner]
[Read the unpublished narrative of Alejandra] [Buy the book from the McSweeney's store]
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LAWSUIT WIN FOR COLORADO’S UNDOCUMENTED
Fields of fear for Colorado farm laborers
Five undocumented Mexican workers won a civil lawsuit against their agricultural contractor employers, who were found guilty of violating the Agricultural Worker Protection Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act. The contractors offered no defense to charges of threatening the workers with violence and deducting from the workers' paychecks fees for rent, transportation, and smuggling them across the border. The judge awarded the workers $7.8 million. To read ... | ||
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Undocumented workers pitch in to Utah economy
Starting July 1, a Utah state law will make it easier to deport undocumented workers. There is debate in Utah about whether its 40,000 undocumented workers hurt or help the state economy. The state government spends millions of dollars each year educating undocumented workers and their children, but the Utah Hispanic Chamber of Commerce estimates that this group contributes, through payroll taxes and consumer spending, $2 billion a year to the state. To read the ...
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Targeting employers puts undocumented workers at greater risk
In a letter to the New York Times this week, the director of the Immigrants Rights Program of the American Friends Service Committee argues that immigration agents' shift in focus from undocumented workers to their employers "will only drive those workers further underground, setting the stage for more exploitation and violations of labor rights." To read the full article, click here.
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UNDERGROUND AMERICA AT NEWBURYPORT LITERARY FESTIVAL
Below the Radar: Immigrants in America
Saturday, April 25th, 2:30 PM, Old South Church, Newburyport, Massachusets: Underground America editor Peter Orner will be speaking at this event with social activist Drew Hendrickson as part of the Newburyport Literary Festival. For Underground America, Orner compiled and edited the stories of various men and women who came to the United States and confronted life-changing challenges that they never expected. This book is a collection of first-hand ... | ||
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Health Inequities for Undocumented Immigrants
Tuesday April 14, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Carr Auditorium San Francisco General Hospital 1001 Potrero AvenueUnderground America editor Peter Orner will be speaking at this presentation on the growing health crisis for undocumented workers in the United States, highlighting issues like health and human rights in prison, occupational injuries, and social vulnerabilities leading to health inequities for this at-risk group. Orner will discuss some of these inequities raised by Underground America. He will be joined by journalist Sandra Hernandez ... | ||
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Mentally Ill Detainees Held Without Contact
In today's Daily Journal, Sandra Hernandez reports on the unlawful detention of mentally ill immigrants in a network of psychiatric hospitals in Southern California. Read the full article below:
County Health Officials Say ICE Instructed Psychiatric Hospitals To Break State Law By Sandra Hernandez, Daily Journal Staff Writer Federal immigration officials have held mentally ill immigrant detainees in a little known network of private psychiatric hospitals in Southern California beyond the reach of their families and lawyers in ... | ||
