Book tells tough stories

To mark the official release of their student-produced book “Underground Undergrads,” the UCLA Center for Labor Research and Education hosted a book publishing event Wednesday night in Campbell Hall.

Nearly a year and a half after students undertook the project, supporters ““ including fellow students, parents and professors ““ came together to celebrate their work and talk about the struggles facing undocumented students.

The book includes eight stories, each unique but similar in the struggles the students shared. The undocumented students featured in the book have immigrated from a variety of countries, including Vietnam and Romania. Many of them came to the United States as children.

The event highlighted some of the stories featured in the book, and several authors and editors talked about how they brought their ideas to publication.

Fabiola Inzunza, a fourth-year international development studies student, is the co-chairman of Improving Dreams, Equality, Access, and Success (IDEAS), a student group that supported and helped in the writing and publication of the book.

“Working together with the labor department, we got this idea,” Inzunza said. “Out of the course, we recorded oral histories, and then turned it into this powerful project.”

The project began with the first class offered by the labor center, called “Immigration, Labor, and Higher Education” during the winter quarter of 2007.

After the interviews were conducted and the stories were written by students, a team of editors picked the eight they wanted to highlight in the book. Students also took and collected the pictures featured in the book.

But besides being full of very revealing and personal stories, “Underground Undergrads” also includes background information on federal and state legislation that affects the lives of undocumented students.

Tam Tran, a UCLA alumna, had her story featured in the book, and she said the collection legitimizes the student’s stories.

“It can become part of the curriculum for a class or for research,” Tran said. “We were underground and now we’ve come out to inform the campus about the issues of undocumented students.”

Professor Janna Shadduck-Hernandez was one of the faculty members involved in the project. She talked about undocumented students’ challenges and the importance of sharing their stories. She also said the book was a way for students to do participatory research by organizing the publication of the book themselves.

Stephanie Solis, a fourth-year English student, is undocumented. She is a member of IDEAS and worked on the publication of “Underground Undergrads” as a copy editor and writer. She said she believes the book can be a valuable resource.

“It’s important as an education tool to undocumented students,” Solis said. “Someone can pick up this book and know there are others like me.”

She said the book takes a more personal angle that many people do not consider as part of the immigration debate.

“It’s not really just black and white; so many of us came as kids,” Solis said.

“It’s probably the only thing I can think of where kids are held accountable for their parents’ crimes.”

Inzunza said she hopes the book’s publication will push legislation that can help undocumented students receive financial aid and assistance in pursuing a higher education.

“Once you have it published, it grabs attention,” Inzunza said. “I think it can also play a really empowering role when students read it for themselves.”

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