Dreamers attempts to humanize the immigration debate by showcasing the lives of about a dozen young people who were brought to the US as children, were educated and raised here, and then found their futures blocked by their illegal status. The focus was primarily on their inability to access higher education (hence the cap on the cover) but mention was made of the sort of challenges faced by all illegal immigrants, restricted mobility, few job prospects, and the constant threat of a near permanent separation from family and loved ones.

I'm someone who is more interested in the statistical argument. I want to know the costs and the benefits, how many people are affected and how, on as concrete terms as possible. This book doesn't offer any of that sort of argument beyond a bibliography in the back, and instead tries to appeal to empathy towards individual human beings who's entire lives are shaped by these restrictions on their lives. The language is not academic at all. It's conversational, maybe a little gradeschoolish, but articulate, and for such a difficult issue, optimistic and empowering in the way it describes the steps activists have taken to challenge immigration law in the US. It may not be the best way to argue policy, but I think it is useful to understand what exactly our immigration policy means to those who are most affected by it, and I think this book does a good job bringing forth those stories. ( )

Before making any judgments about legal versus illegal immigration. On the one hand illegal immigration powers a good many industries and fields that most US citizens (I won't say Americans because people from South and Central America, and Canadians are equally "American" ) will not work in (e.g. migrant farmwork, sweatshops, slaughterhouses, non-unionized construction work). On the other hand there are people who immigrate legally who take the time and effort to do things the right way and to take part in our culture, and our history while maintaining their own cultural ties -- just as the Irish, Italians, Germans, French Canadians, and Scots have all done in the last 300 years. However, I do not believe these adolescents and young adults should be punished because their parents chose not to immigrate the legal way- they were children and hence not responsible for any actions taken to illegally enter the US. "Anchor babies" as many call them are born citizens of the US and are entitled to hold a job, to pay taxes, to fight in our military and to attend our schools and colleges without fear of retribution from fear-mongering politicians and right wing domestic terror groups like the vigilante groups guarding the Mexico/US border or the KKK. This book highlights the concerns and issues faced by these young people as they struggle to build lives in the US often without families or any type of social support network. ( )

Quick read and one that I was interested in because I have conflicting and difficult feelings as a Californian working in higher education about the DREAM Act. I'd hoped for a more balanced approach to selecting narratives. There's plenty of preaching to the choir on the topic of immigration on both ends of the political spectrum so I'd hoped for maybe the selection of some narratives of young people & their families who don't value a higher education (especially for women) or who don't embrace "American" identity/culture, but wish for the benefits of American asylum. I think activists on the pro side of the issue are too quiet about this, just as I think that anti-immigration folks are too quiet about the issue of immigrant labor benefits & rights.

Would have liked to have read Truax's take on why she proposes that we support immigrants in coming to America who do not identify as American no matter how long they're in this country and who are simply waiting for the Latino majority to transform America into "Latin" America, just as Europeans did to Native America before them.

Dreamers was a very informative book, you get to hear about the struggles immigrants have when coming to America. Truax discusses the problems these people have when trying to create a life here, she also makes it a point to discuss the bigger issues pertaining to how America handles people who migrate here. Not only does this book lay some knowledge straight out on the pages, it is also an intriguing read hearing about people's lives and their stories. ( )

This book was very well-written, easy to read and informative. The balance between individual stories and the larger issues was well done. The book made very clear how untenable is the situation of the Dreamers. ( )