Celebrating One Year of The Cost of Being Undocumented

This week we are celebrating one year of The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman’s Reckoning with America’s Inhumane Math by our co-founders Alix Dick and Antero Garcia. The Cost of Being Undocumented has flipped the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration, offering a numbers to dollars account of what it means to be undocumented in this country. Through Alix’s story we bear witness to the cost of migration and how it shapes us, and the moments of triumph that arise through community work, art and storytelling. Building off of this mixture of empirical research and vivid storytelling, Alix and Antero launched La Cuenta as an attempt at expanding the voices shaping conversations around immigration. We honor one year in print and celebrate the journey, and the sacred literary space that all of you have helped La Cuenta become. Congratulations to Alix and Antero, thank you for your work and contributions to our community. We’d like to also thank you, our readers and contributors, for your support and for entrusting us with your stories, your words, and your art.

Note from La Cuenta’s co-founder and author of The Cost of Being Undocumented, Alix Dick:

The costs of writing a book are innumerable

One of the many things writing a book has taught me, is it has made it most clear how easy it is for people to assume and judge.

Many people have questioned why the book is not more successful right now. They don’t always understand the reality of what it means to write and speak openly about issues you deeply believe in while living them dangerously in real-time. It is challenging to share the message of this book while also trying to keep myself and the people who support safe.

There is a cost to speaking up when you are on the front lines of the issues you are writing about. Many people see the finished book, but they do not see the fear, the sacrifices, the risks, or the careful decisions made along the way. I’m far from safe. However, the never ending desire to bring light to my community doesn’t allow me to stay quiet.

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who has supported this work. Every reader, every conversation, and every act of encouragement means more than most people will ever know.

When I first started this book I thought that showing people data and research would change their minds about the harmful narratives portrayed about immigrants by the media. However, nothing in my book can change someone who’s been brainwashed to hate. Today, my desire is to encourage my immigrant communities to not allow the system to erase us. To dare to believe we deserve dignity.

Regardless of my present circumstances, I remain hopeful for a better future for immigrants and for myself.

I continue to pay the cost of being undocumented every single day. I’m still chronically ill and dealing with the costs of health and many other issues I write about in the book. And yet I also continue to prove that I am just as deserving of opportunity, dignity, and a second chance like everyone else.

I know people have mentioned how hard it was to get through this book but I describe the reality of millions of people. Your attention to this matter creates the change we need. I am believing in better days, louder stories, and happier books. For now, let’s keep the conversation and faith going.

My immigration status does not define my worth. It does not determine my potential. Like so many immigrants before me, I keep moving forward with the hope that one day our humanity will matter more than the paperwork this country says we do not have.

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We are giving away two books in honor of The Cost of Being Undocumented turning one! Share this post and comment “Happy Birthday!” and we will send the lucky winners the paperback of the book.

We’ll see you next week.