This past week, UConn and PRLACC had guest Diane Guerrero discuss her book, In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, and her new television show which is in the works. Known for her recurring roles in Jane the Virgin and Orange is the New Black, Guerrero is making herself known as the voice and face of immigration reform.
Being the daughter of Colombian immigrants, she faced the struggle of living without her family when her parents were deported. Guerrero was only 14 years old when she came home one day to find that her parents had been taken. She recalled that there was still food half-done in the kitchen and her parents’ cars were still parked outside. It wasn’t until a neighbor came to her and told her what had happened. She described this experience as being very hard, a tough journey and, as she mentioned in her discussion, one of the “most silent moments of [her] life“. For the next few years in high school, she lived with several friends and then got a place on her own. Throughout her high school experience at a performing arts school and then college, Guerrero struggled with depression. Eventually, she got help by going to therapy and discovered she needed to go back to acting, an art form she had fallen in love with back in high school.
After achieving success from her two hit TV shows, she decided to become an author and wrote her book, In The Country We Love: My Family Divided. This is Guerrero’s first book in which she discusses her struggles and resilience to continue forward in life. This book gave her the confidence and inspiration to talk about the issues that immigrants go through in America. Recently named an Ambassador for Citizenship and Naturalization by the President and Senate, Guerrero is now talking about her own experience and the experiences of others that go through similar situations. Her activism brings to light the issues that many undocumented immigrants go through. There are over 11 million undocumented people in the U.S. and many families like Guerrero’s face deportation and discrimination.
Guerrero talked about how the immigration policy needs an upgrade. In fact, the last year that any change was done to the immigration policy was in 2002, post-9/11 when the Immigration and Naturalization Service was replaced by the Homeland Security Act. To better understand what Homeland Security Act does and why it relates to immigration, read this brief explanation from the Huffington Post. There have been many discussions and plans about what to do and how to create a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants such as the Dream Act for students, along with bills like DACA (a bill that is in place today which helps many students) and DAPA, but very little else has been done. With the upcoming elections this November, the presidential candidates (most notably from the Democratic and Republican parties) each have expressed their position on what to do reagrding immigration reform. Donald Trump, representing the Republicans, has expressed views on an immigration reform that calls for action like “building a wall” between the U.S. and Mexico border. Hillary Clinton, representing the Democratics, argues for a “comprehensive immigration reform” which would lead to a path for citizenship.
This is why Diane Guerrero is arguing for a reform. With her story, she plans on speaking more about the issues that immigrants face today for better understanding. This is what led to her upcoming TV show. Like her book, this TV show is also called, In the Country We Love. It is a drama project set up for CBS which tells the story of a corporate attorney who starts to go pro-bono (free of charge) for undocumented immigrants, as she is also the child of immigrant parents. This show will touch more on immigration and hopefully bring more awareness to it.
You can get Diane Guerrero’s book here.