UNAUTHORIZED: PORTRAITS OF LATINO IMMIGRANTS is written by two professors, Marisol Clark-Ibáñez and Richelle Swan, at California State University San Marcos where they have supervised "dozens of master's theses on issues related to inequality and the Latinx or immigrant communities of San Diego." The authors describe the "singular mission" of this book as "honoring and sharing the contemporary experiences of undocumented Latinx immigrants in the United States." They refer to "scholar Elvira Pulitano [and her assertion] that the stories behind undocumented immigration 'need to be heard if the United States intends to live up to its founding principles of dignity and respect for all people.'"

Recognizing that this is a sensitive and emotional topic, they raise myths and make attempts at myth busting. As in their classes, Clark-Ibáñez and Swan "stress the use of scholarly research, documentary film, and community voices to best understand the issues." For example, did you know that "the majority of unauthorized immigrants in the United States have lived here for more than ten years (66 percent) and a minority have lived here for less than five years (14 percent)?" That is from work by PEW Research which is also cited separately in order to remind readers that "the estimated eleven million unauthorized immigrants in the United States make up a total of 3.5 percent of the country's total population." And, according to a report by the California Immigrant Policy Center, "in terms of the undocumented Latinx population in general, about 81% live in households with citizens." Those statistics are all from UNAUTHORIZED’s first chapter which provides background, numbers and definitions, plus an overview of the entire text.

Each subsequent chapter by Clark-Ibáñez and Swan begins with a brief portrait of an immigrant. This is truly a multidimensional work; individual chapters deal with media portrayal, labor, education, healthcare, legal issues, resistance and recommendations. Numerous examples and detailed explanations are provided in a clear and accessible manner. Many of the resources to which the authors refer are linked at UndocuResearch, another project of Clark-Ibáñez's. Notes and an index make up roughly forty percent of UNAUTHORIZED, a text which will definitely be of interest to our teachers and student researchers.

The authors wrote an account of what it is like to be an undocumented immigrant in America, including the struggles faced with education and employment. I feel that the personal stories from the people that they interviewed really gave a lot of insight into the daily struggles these people face. I highly recommend this book.