Infinite Country, Patricia Engel, author; Ines del Castillo, narrator
Although the book is about a young couple, Elena and Mauro, from Columbia, who come to America, with their infant daughter, Karina, seeking a better life for all of them, it is really about all undocumented foreigners living in the shadows. While in the country with legitimate visas, Elena and Mauro work hard and send money back home. Then they have two more children, Nando and Talia, even though they are poverty stricken, even though they can barely make ends meet and are living in far worse conditions than they did in their own home, in their own country, even though they know that time is running out and unscrupulous lawyers have taken advantage of them. They are a very loving family. They consider returning to their own country, but their own country is always in turmoil, always violent, always overrun with drug dealers. Faced with the expiration of their visas, they decide to overstay their welcome and to live in the shadows. Although they are quiet, law abiding and hard-working, sometimes they get caught in the web. Soon Mauro is deported and Elena, unaware of it, does not even know she is alone. Neither truly accepts responsibility for their own behavior, rather they resent the behavior of the authorities and also resent the Americans who question their right to be in the country illegally. They begin to wonder what is so great about this place, after all, it is more violent than their own country, which I found debatable, since their own country’s government is riddled with corruption. Still, they stay because life is better here, they can earn more money, and they can hope to become legal; they can hope to stop being seen as an outsider.
I am not heartless. It is truly hard to read this book and feel nothing for the plight of these helpless immigrants stuck in a no-mans land in America. Having arrived in the land of their dreams, they find it is harder to live here than they had anticipated. The noise, the crowds, the hustle and bustle are alien to most of them. They are in constant fear of being attacked or caught, for which they blame the authorities, instead of themselves. After all, although they are suffering, and human suffering is hard to abide, they have knowingly broken the law, made the choice to enter America illegally or stay illegally when their visas expire.
Many do not come for asylum, but rather for economic security. Many are impatient, unwilling or unable to apply for visas through the proper channels. There is a long wait for approval, or they know they will be denied. Most get to America and pray for an administration that will grant them amnesty or protection. They have risked their lives crossing land and water to get to the United States. They go into hiding when they arrive. Their network of friends enables them to find places to live, to get jobs and false papers, but they lead harsh lives here, living hand to mouth in squalid quarters, most of the time in overcrowded accommodations with no privacy or access to good hygiene. Sometimes they take on false husbands in order to get legal status. Other times they wait until the legally born children can sponsor them, although that is years in the future. They do however, quickly learn to work our system.
They work the system better than most Americans. They soon rely on the generosity and sympathy of those that are willing to also disregard the laws of our country. So, although they are breaking the law, and blaming American law enforcement for holding them accountable, the human side of the story will touch the heart of every reader. How can one look at these families just asking for what we take for granted, and not give it to them? All of us have family. All of us would hate to live in fear. All of us would hate to risk being separated, sent to a country we are either no longer familiar with, or not at all familiar with, and which is a place of danger. Still, a country cannot continue to allow anyone to enter without losing its own identity, and, in truth, that seems to slowly be happening in the United States.
Some offer sanctuary to these forgotten and nameless people, to these people who live below the radar in constant fear, as they both, legal and illegal, openly disregard the laws they don’t like. It is hard to condemn either the bleeding hearts or the illegal aliens, undocumented souls or whatever you wish to call them. They are all in the same situation, hopeless and helpless, waiting for a miracle, waiting for the United States government to give them the rights they demand. Most of the time, the fairytale ending in this book is not the reality.
Whether or not one agrees with my assessment is immaterial to the novel. The novel merely concerns itself with the plight of the illegal immigrant, the undocumented aliens, and their story is heartrending. These souls resent the terms used to describe them, they resent the authorities that enforce the immigration laws. Some break our laws with impunity, although entering or remaining in the country illegally is an offense they are all guilty of immediately, and some suffer because of poor choices that are disastrous, sometimes made innocently and sometimes with intent.
For me, even though my heart broke for the family when the husband Mauro was deported, and their family was disrupted and separated, forced into circumstances that often made them the butt of serious abuse, and forced to make decisions to break up their own family, I found the author’s presentation of their plight and separation off-putting. The complaints about the separation of families did not ring true when they openly discussed doing this themselves, and Elena did send her own child back to Columbia, to live with her mother, so they could continue to survive, illegally, in America. However, Talia, was born in America, and she could return if she wanted to, at a later date, when she was older. She would belong to two countries and have more freedom.
They were good people; they only wanted to live free in America, to be respected, not ridiculed. They didn’t want to be white, they wanted their own culture. Although several had criminal records for which they also made excuses, they did work hard, although for less than other workers, making it harder for American citizens to find similar work. They had absolutely no real shame when it came to their dishonesty, when it came to staying in this country. They knew they were breaking the law, but they felt justified in that behavior. They even felt they had the right to protest their treatment, even though they didn’t believe anyone had the right to protest about their dishonesty.
Columbia is a country of contradictions. Good and evil reside in each person, place, job, and politician. Perhaps the same is true about the United States. Does anyone have the right to demand entry into a foreign country? There are not many countries that would say yes to open borders. Still, it is really hard not to finish the book and feel tremendous empathy for the plight of these people who are seeking a better life, sometimes at the expense of the people whose country they invade. It is hard not to wish there was a better way. So, who is worse off, those that are displaced by these undocumented foreigners, or the those “illegals” who hide in plain sight dreaming about a better life?
Who can turn their back on the suffering? While I think the book is unfair in its one-sided depiction, and in the fairy tale way the story works out, my heart hurts when I contemplate the suffering they go through to enjoy what I take for granted. If we continue on this open border policy, however, will what I take for granted continue to exist for me, or will my world forever be altered by the invasion?