The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math
An undocumented activist and a social scientist come together to tally of the structural costs of undocumented life

An inhumane math pervades this country: even as our government extracts labor and often taxes from undocumented workers, it excludes these same workers from its social safety net. As a result, these essential workers struggle to get their own basic needs met, from healthcare to education, from freedom of association to the ability to drive to work without looking for ICE in the rearview mirror.

When Alix Dick's family found themselves in the crosshairs of cartel violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, she and her siblings were forced to flee to the U.S. Many of the scenes that she shares are difficult and unforgettable: escaping from a relationship in which her partner threatened to report her to immigration; getting root canals done in an underground dental clinic. But there are moments of triumph, too: founding her own nonprofit; working on films that tell important stories; and working with her co-author Dr. Garcia to tell her story in a framework that lays bare the realities of structural oppression.

As Alix and Antero tally the costs of undocumented life, they present a final bill of what is owed to the immigrant community. In this way, their book flips the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration on its head.
1146307014
The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math
An undocumented activist and a social scientist come together to tally of the structural costs of undocumented life

An inhumane math pervades this country: even as our government extracts labor and often taxes from undocumented workers, it excludes these same workers from its social safety net. As a result, these essential workers struggle to get their own basic needs met, from healthcare to education, from freedom of association to the ability to drive to work without looking for ICE in the rearview mirror.

When Alix Dick's family found themselves in the crosshairs of cartel violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, she and her siblings were forced to flee to the U.S. Many of the scenes that she shares are difficult and unforgettable: escaping from a relationship in which her partner threatened to report her to immigration; getting root canals done in an underground dental clinic. But there are moments of triumph, too: founding her own nonprofit; working on films that tell important stories; and working with her co-author Dr. Garcia to tell her story in a framework that lays bare the realities of structural oppression.

As Alix and Antero tally the costs of undocumented life, they present a final bill of what is owed to the immigrant community. In this way, their book flips the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration on its head.
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The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math

The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math

The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math

The Cost of Being Undocumented: One Woman's Reckoning with America's Inhumane Math

Hardcover

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Overview

An undocumented activist and a social scientist come together to tally of the structural costs of undocumented life

An inhumane math pervades this country: even as our government extracts labor and often taxes from undocumented workers, it excludes these same workers from its social safety net. As a result, these essential workers struggle to get their own basic needs met, from healthcare to education, from freedom of association to the ability to drive to work without looking for ICE in the rearview mirror.

When Alix Dick's family found themselves in the crosshairs of cartel violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, she and her siblings were forced to flee to the U.S. Many of the scenes that she shares are difficult and unforgettable: escaping from a relationship in which her partner threatened to report her to immigration; getting root canals done in an underground dental clinic. But there are moments of triumph, too: founding her own nonprofit; working on films that tell important stories; and working with her co-author Dr. Garcia to tell her story in a framework that lays bare the realities of structural oppression.

As Alix and Antero tally the costs of undocumented life, they present a final bill of what is owed to the immigrant community. In this way, their book flips the traditional narrative about the economics of immigration on its head.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780807014943
Publisher: Beacon Press
Publication date: 06/17/2025
Pages: 232
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Alíx Dick is an artist and storyteller living in Los Angeles. Her contributions as a producer and filmmaker have screened at film festivals across the globe. She co-edits the substack La Cuenta, an online publication centering the voices and perspectives of individuals labeled undocumented in the U.S.

Antero Garcia is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Education at Stanford University and vice president of the National Council of Teachers of English. He has authored or edited more than a dozen books about schooling in America. He co-edits the substack La Cuenta.

Table of Contents

A Note on Our Research Process

INTRODUCTION
The Balance

CHAPTER 1
The Cost of Time

CHAPTER 2
The Cost of Being Mexicana

CHAPTER 3
The Cost of Living in a Cartel War

CHAPTER 4
The Cost of Border Crossing

CHAPTER 5
The Cost of Employment

CHAPTER 6
The Cost of Love

CHAPTER 7
The Cost of Faith

CHAPTER 8
The Cost of Mental Health

CHAPTER 9
The Cost of Healthcare

CHAPTER 10
The Cost of Dreaming

CONCLUSION
Reckoning with Inhumane Math

Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
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