WE ARE HOME

A broadcaster delivers a charged account of the lives of immigrants.

When Donald Trump snarled to the members of Congress’s progressive “Squad” that they should “go back where they came from,” although three of the four were U.S. born, “it was not a violation but a reminder,” implying that although they were as American as Trump, they were somehow different. “I heard what he said and immediately knew what he meant,” writes Suarez, author of Latino Americans. “And so did you.” It’s something most immigrants experience at some point, more so if they lack the required paperwork. One of Suarez’s subjects is a first responder whose heroic actions during a Houston hurricane saved many lives; despite this, he is subject to “regular reminders he is not like his neighbors”—at least until his immigration status is settled. The son of Hungarian immigrants recounts that although both parents were experienced doctors, they were denied accreditation until they went through another internship and residency, doubtless a way to keep outsiders out rather than any bulwark for reasons of safety, given the shortage of doctors in the country. In this blend of oral and social history, Suarez turns up a fascinating account of a Sikh who came to the U.S., served in the Army during World War I, and was granted citizenship by a federal court, which was then revoked by the Bureau of Naturalization for reasons of race, with an appellate court asked to rule on the question, “Is a high-caste Hindu of full Indian blood…a white person?” Sadly, such racial divides endure, as strong as ever. The easiest-going of Suarez’s subjects is a blonde New Zealander who admits, “I was very conscious of the difference between me and other undocumented people.”

A provocative work that urges reconsideration of immigration rights in a nation of immigrants.