Endorsements: Underground Undergrads: UCLA Undocumented Immigrant Students Speak Out

The following individuals and more have endorsed Underground Undergrads:

“The talented, dynamic young people captured in this book represent the hope for the future. They have done what society has asked of them: they have worked hard, studied hard, and have obtained educational success in spite of tremendous obstacles. Now it is society’s turn to do the right thing. We need to pass the Dream Act, and we need to provide a path to citizenship to these young people and to millions of undocumented workers who contribute so much for the American dream.”

– María Elena Durazo, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor

“These courageous undocumented students of UCLA are standing up for the rights of all undocumented people. Although immigrant workers throughout the generations have worked in the fields and built our cities, they have always been subjected to poor treatment and have been denied basic rights. The voices of these students should be heard in Sacramento, in Washington, DC, and they should inspire us all to work harder for full rights for all immigrants.”

– Dolores Huerta, Cofounder, United Farm Workers of America

"The young Bruins featured in this book represent some of the finest leaders of their generation. As someone who knows what it means to beat the odds and graduate with a UCLA diploma, I salute their drive and hard work in continuing the quest for the American dream. They are living proof that promoting immigrant integration is in the best interest of our city and of our nation.”

– Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, City of Los Angeles

“Underground Undergrads reveals an inconvenient truth behind the empty slogans of those who offer hate instead of compassion in the debate on undocumented migration. Around a third of those presently in undocumented status entered the country as minors in the company of adults. They are guilty of no transgression except obeying their parents. I’d like to think that the United States is not the sort of country that punishes children for the purported crimes of parents. After reading this book, surely no one can disagree that the students it profiles merit an immediate and unconditional amnesty. It is not only the right thing to do morally, it is the obvious move practically, for until the burden of undocumented status is lifted, these well-educated and ambitious students constitute a waste of valuable human capital that our country can ill afford to lose.”

– Douglas Massey, Professor of Sociology, Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton University

“In the midst of contentious debates surrounding the fate of the nation’s undocumented immigrant population, the student voices presented here truly provide a unique perspective. The stories in this collection are moving and inspirational sagas of students emerging from the shadows, coping with issues of educational access, and demanding the promise of opportunity for all.”

– Michael Omi, Associate Professor of Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley

“Amid the shrill hue and cry over undocumented immigration, so often lacking in basic facts, Underground Undergrads is an eye-opening, myth-busting, luminous gem of a book, humanizing and bringing to life the extraordinary stories of undocumented students who have made it to college against all odds. They came at an early age from El Salvador and Vietnam and Mexico and Korea and elsewhere, and have grown up American, speaking English, working hard, and demonstrating uncommon talents and values that can only redound to the lasting benefit of this society. Yet these students are denied basic rights and must live with daily indignities, blocked aspirations, and in constant fear of deportation. Well educated and refusing to be pushed further underground, they have emerged as committed activists for immigrant rights, inspired by and evoking the best of American traditions. These ambitious students are at once exemplars of the possibilities and contradictions of the United States, of the American dream in Deportation Nation.”

– Rubén G. Rumbaut, Professor of Sociology, University of California, Irvine

To endorse this book please email us at undergroundundergrads(at)gmail.com

Thank you!