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>> xiii Acknowledgments In my previous works, I wrote the acknowledgments section after I had largely completed the manuscripts. However, in this instance I decided to write the acknowledgements before I finished the book. The reason for this approach is that I am using this section as a motivational tool to finish this labor of love. In many respects, the motivation for this book is an unnamed child, who because of life chances, luck, or providence was born in another land to parents who crossed the “frontera” and who, for now, is part of our permanent underclass. Though a similar child born in California of undocumented parents may be a U.S. citizen in the strictest sense of the word, his or her very status is also now under attack. How is the child who recently arrived with his or her hardworking parents that much different from me, growing up in New York City’s Spanish Harlem of parents born in Puerto Rico? I spoke the same language at home as these children, and we likely have many of the same cultural and religious beliefs. I am unquestionably a U.S. citizen because in 1898 the United States invaded Cuba and Puerto Rico, and soon thereafter became an empire. Just because of historical happenstance, am I more deserving of being a U.S. citizen than those children called “illegal”—part of a criminal family living as the invisible members of this society just because of parents who have crossed that imaginary dividing line known as the border? I write for the little girl who is on my profile picture on Facebook. You see, much like the children mentioned above, the little girl pictured on my Facebook profile happened to be one of many individuals who attended a xiv > xv Another source of inspiration for writing this book came from attending a symposium at Florida International University organized by the students of the FIU Public Health Immigrant Advocacy Coalition a couple of years ago. Though in the midst of a writer’s block, I almost found an excuse for not attending this event; I decided to attend after learning that my friend Nilda Pedrosa, the law school’s then assistant dean for development, was attending. I wanted to support all concerned, so I somewhat begrudgingly agreed. It was a fateful decision. The event was epiphanic. During a Friday fall evening on a college campus, where I believed only a music group could attract students at that time, I noticed that well over a hundred students had come. These students were present to attend an event that was more important to them than doing what typical young adults do on a typical weekend night. I was instantly impressed with the maturity of both the organizers , who were also young, and the other attendees, the academics and activists who spoke to the group. At one point I heard the name of one of the activist groups: the DREAM Walkers. I feigned knowledge of the group, but in reality I knew nothing about them. After a talk that provided an analytical framework of the issues related to the DREAM Act, I felt a sermon-like impassioned call to action. The DREAM Walkers are a handful of undocumented activist college students who, instead of hiding in the shadows like many others subject to the fear of deportation, spoke out visibly against laws aimed at preventing them from seeking a college education. Like something right out of the civil rights movement , these youths marched 1,500 miles from Miami, Florida, to Washington , DC. I was moved almost to tears upon learning of these efforts, and I knew I needed to do what I could to help these young heroes who apparently had few traditional spokespersons. Indeed, during one of the talks, I felt what perhaps those who do not follow a religious path would find ignorant or even silly—I found a moment of almost spiritual clarity. For a good part of my adult life, I worked with almost a religious fervor to use my work to make a difference in the lives of others, but I also longed for personal recognition. I had long written about civil rights and lectured on racial justice, but I always felt I could do more for others. I xvi > xvii beliefs. I was also equally in awe of his humility and generosity. As many in the academy know, Professor Bell left his prestigious post at Harvard Law School because of...

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