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In The Country We Love: My Family Divided

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In The Country We Love: My Family Divided
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided
On a crisp night in Boston, all seemed well as Diane enjoyed a nice meal with her family, and the next day, her mom, dad, and brother were stolen by US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and she was stranded. The book In the Country We Love: My Family Divided, tells us the life story of Diane Guerrero, a Colombian girl who was born in the United States, unlike her parents and brother who were both born in Colombia. The author tells a heartbreaking story of a girl’s resilience in frightening situations, like isolation and poverty. Diane’s home life was turned upside down, but despite the countless number of nightmarish situations, Diane strived and pursued her dreams with no aid
…show more content…
I discovered that her story was very relatable, because I grew up hearing my parents stories about leaving their families at such young ages and moving across country for a fresh start in the States. At 14 years old, Diane Guerrero, was left utterly alone. She stated angrily, “When the authorities made the choice to detain my parents, they did not even bother to check that a young girl, a minor, was just without a family”(43). The immigration officers did not care about Diane, in fact, they never contacted her to find out if she had a house to stay in, now that she was homeless and parentless. Luckily, a few close family friends took her in, but she went bouncing from home to home for the next 4 years, hardly ever talking, let alone seeing her parents. She could have gone back to Colombia and let go of any and all opportunities, shockingly, she chose to stay here and take advantage of her citizenship. Hopeful, she said, “College gave me a shot at a future” (141). Diane was aware that college was her way to get a future and “maybe even bring my parents back” (145) I think, that’s a valid example of why people want to live in this country.
Diane moved out of her friends house and began going to college, but her ruined childhood impacted her experience tremendously moving forward. “My parents constant struggle to remain in America defined my childhood, but it was

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