America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story

by Felipe Torres Medina

A hilarious and satirically accurate introduction to the United States immigration system from comedian and writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Felipe Torres Medina

"A funny, empathetic, and formally inventive guide to the U.S. immigration system." (Kirkus)  /  "A funny book about immigration and sexy centaurs." (Stephen Colbert)

Born in Colombia, Felipe Torres Medina moved to the US at the age of 21 and has spent over ten years of his life both navigating the chaos and confusion of the immigration system and explaining that craziness to the clueless Americans around him. There are few subjects that Americans have stronger opinions on. And there are few subjects that they know less about.

So, like many immigrants before him, Torres Medina sets out to do the job American-born citizens won’ make the US immigration process accessible, relatable, and, hey, a little bit funny. With an outsider’s eye, an insider’s affection, and a biting, humorous flair, Torres Medina invites readers from all passport lines to explore the multiple paths and potholes of moving to America, and experience just how many choices it takes to choose a new home. 

In this laugh-out-loud book, you will be taken down a multitude of possible immigration stories that range from the kafkaesquely silly to an uproarious good time. Some of them are real things that happened to Felipe—like discovering in an immigration interview that he shares a name with several criminals—and some of them are totally invented and will make you question your sanity.

By the end of this handy guide, you’ll learn all you need to know about visas like the H-1B work visa, the infamous 90-day fiancé visa, the so-called Einstein visa, and many more. Remember, the fate of each character’s journey is all in your hands. So choose at your own risk.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Humor, Audiobook, Book Club, Memoir, Comedy

208 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2025

Reviews

[Kate O'Shea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very funny book. You should read it.

I actually listened to an excellent audio of it (read by the author, which I think often helps with humorous books).

America, Let Me In provides a look at the immigration system in the US. I'd say quite a lot of this will need to be re-written during the next few years. It'll probably just boil down to you're in if you're rich but not if you're poor. It certainly seems to be the way the rest of the world works, which makes me fear for humanity- and our lack of it.

Politics aside, Mr Medina uses personal experience and a lot of research to provide an extremely amusing way to navigate (or not) the visa route for immigrants. It's complicated. No, I mean, really complicated. Except when it's a lottery. Yes, an actual lottery, which you may win predicated on nothing other than your name in the draw. Or it's neither of those, and it could just be the decision of one person sitting in an office who may have had a fight with his parents that morning. It's insane.

Don't get me wrong, I do not doubt that other countries have similar nonsensical rules and regulations. I've no intention of finding out. Too much stress.

(I knocked a star off for purely personal reasons, i.e., that Mr Medina has some kind of beef against the UK. And I'm from Yorkshire. It's not explained, but he keeps mentioning it. There's also the quaint idea that is perpetuated by any American I've ever seen interviewed, that everyone is desperate to live in the US. It's really not true. Lots of us in Europe really don't.)

Otherwise, it's funny, irreverent, crazily sarcastic and I'd highly recommend it.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Dreamscape Media.

[Caitlin Kunkel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hilarious, informative book with an ingenious structure. Felipe Torres Medina’s AMERICA LET ME IN straight up educates the reader on the byzantine American immigration system while making you laugh so hard you barely notice you now know the difference between an O-1A and an O-1B visa. Playful and weighty at the same time, this is required reading if you love comedy and hate filling out online forms.

[Jeremy Hornik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A primer on US immigration, a memoir, and a parody/tribute to ‘choose your own adventure’ books. And oddly enough, those things all work great together. Lots of good jokes, and an informative read, especially under the current administration. Immigrants! They are this country.

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of America, Let Me In.

I have personal immigration stories within my own family (as I'm sure many people do) so the title immediately caught my eye.

I wasn't sure what to expect but I remember the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was young.

I didn't like them but I didn't dislike them because I usually ended up getting eaten by a gator or kidnapped by a dragon.

I made a few choices which ironically ended quickly and pretty well, but I still learned quite a bit of the arduous process on the immigration process.

The writing is funny and silly, it's supposed to be, and I liked how the author didn't take himself too seriously, though the forms and steps an immigrant does take is real and serious.

Read this for a laugh.

It is funny, and the author does point out the immigration process is a long, arduous process for many and it's no laughing matter for those who seek the American Dream.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! As an avid fan of TLWSC, Felipe was put on my radar when he became one of the writers for the show, because as a Latina who wants to work in comedy, I love seeing other Latinos succeed.

This book is really funny and explains the immigrant experience in a way that those who would never need to be familiar with it (i.e. white people) can understand the hoops that people jump through just so that they can come to this country.

[Bailey Douglass · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars- I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this book from the description--I think I thought it would be more of a memoir with context on how our immigration system in the US works. That's not what it is though--it's a choose your own adventure book, like the kids series, but with characters going through the US immigration process.

The book is clever and interesting, and the details and stories that Medina creates show the maddening bureaucracy and arbitrary rules that qualified immigrants have to navigate to get through to live in the US. I do a lot of work with immigration processes with my job and I still learned quite a bit from the book. Medina also highlights Melania Trump's immigration experience and makes a lot of comments about the Trump administration and Elon Musk that I thought would be funny if they weren't so troubling.

Overall I enjoyed the book, it's about an important topic in a lighthearted way and I'm still ready for that memoir when Medina wants to write it.

Caveats:

This is not a great book to read on ebook because of the flipping around. I'd recommend buying a physical copy.

Medina is very clear that he does not include information about the experience for people who are not privileged with an obvious legal route to immigrate, because this is a comedy book and that experience isn't at all funny.

Thanks to Abrams and Net Galley for my advance review copy.

[Lauren D'Souza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felipe Torres Medina (a comedian and writer on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert) takes a weighty, difficult subject - the arduous and dehumanizing process of staying in the United States legally - and turns it into a fun romp of a “choose your own adventure” story.

He fully acknowledges that this is a tough topic, but one that he wants to treat with humor in order to teach folks who have the immense privilege of never thinking about visas, embassies, mountains of paperwork and fees, OPT, sponsorship, and the veritable alphabet soup of immigration terms a bit about how the actual process works. In doing so, he debunks the often-repeated sentiment of “I respect immigrants but only the ones who come here the right way!!!” because you can truly see the precarious, luck-based, Sisyphean task of doing that now compared to 20, 50, 100 years ago.

But most of all, this book is funny, goofy, full of heart, and even a little inspiring - something we all kind of need now.

[Amie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this comedy book outlining the American immigration system.

Felipe Torres Medina is a writer for Stephen Colbert and he uses his own experience as well as his comedy writing chops to spread awareness in a way that people can laugh and learn at the same time.

🎭Highly entertaining
🎭Concise - you can finish this audio in one day, easily.
🎭Great writing
🎭Audio is read by Torres Medina and is fantastic

[Glennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting. It is quite complicated!

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

it had some funny observations and the structure is interesting, but some of the writing was over the top

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny and biting satire of the US immigration policy as it existed at the end of the Biden administration. TBD how much worse it will get for those wanting to live in this racist, divided country. The book is non-fiction in that the types of forms and procedures are factual. Yet the author, a humor writer on late-night television, draws sly and funny examples to illustrate the process.
Best of all, it is structured like a “Choose Your Own Adventure” book. For example, if you (the reader) are a wealthy white male from France, skip to section 39: Immigration will be much easier for you! The author (and another voice pretending to be the publisher’s lawyer) narrate the book with great results. I kept finding myself snickering (and occasionally snorting) with suppressed laughter. A must-read for anyone who wants to better understand the immigration process or who just wants to laugh at its complexities and the author’s clever wordplay.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @DreamscapeMedia, and #NetGalley for access to the audiobook of #AmericaLetMeIn for review purposes. This book is currently available.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

America, Let Me In is written and narrated by Felipe Torres Medina. I listened to the audio version and I recommend this version. I also enjoyed that Felipe's lawyer cut in occasionally with some "legal-ese".

Even though this (audio)book has a publication date of March 2025, I believe that most of it was written in 2024. So a lot of the current immigration horrors in the news are not included in this edition.

Felipe Torres Medina was born in Columbia and is a comedian and many of his own experiences are loosely used in this book.

Even though the book has intended comedic content, I honestly feel that I learned somethings about immigration.

I though the format of this book was very interesting; situations are provided and you pick a) go to this chapter/track or b) go to another chapter/track. I listened to the audiobook from beginning to end. I was a little worried that I might not be able to keep track, or that it would be confusing/weird. But it wasn't.

The audio is not super long, approx 4 hours. But very entertaining. Felipe Torres Medina did a great job narrating.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for approving my request to listen to the advance listen copy of America, Let Me In.

[Z. Rise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hilarious and informative choose-your-own style book about immigration to America—the hows, the whys, and the journey through it all.

You choose from an Easy, Medium, and Hard way to “get into America”, and while everything stayed very jokey and lighthearted, Medina sprinkles in information about the visas required for immigration. It taught me a lot I didn’t know, about the costs and how long its take to get a visa in particular.

And I think this is definitely the kinds of books we need. Books telling stories, books from immigrants, books from /people/, all people. I’m just restarting my immigrant story journey—I read Javier Zamora’s Solito in 2025 (which has a much deeper, heart-wrenching tone, but changed my worldview), and this was a good, lighthearted addition to that list.

“If you don’t like this book, you support ICE.” - p. 8

I rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, for readers… well, I don’t know that there needs to be an age range. Maybe 13+, if only for interest levels. Just check the content warnings. Recommended for choose-your-own lovers and readers who want a truthful, but humorous touch in their stories.

Content Warnings: language, light sexual mentions, death (only mentioned)

[Yari · Rating 3 out of 5]

America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story by Felipe Torres Medina, is exactly like is sounds. Written in the style of the Choose Your Own Adventure interactive books of my childhood, at the end of each chapter, the reader makes a decision on which path they will choose for their story.

In this book, the author and narrator Felipe Torres Medina, purposely choose to focus on the easier paths of citizenship that is experienced by those of privilege so that he does not diminish the experience of those who struggle to gain citizenship because they are escaping violence and poverty in their countries.

While the author gives us a humorous and engaging narration, the structure of the book, requiring the listener to choose the next track, often without little time before the following track starts, makes this a challenging experience on audio. I feel that it will be much easier in a print book.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the opportunity to listen to the ALC. All opinions are my own.

Audible book Rating: 3 stars
Pub Date: Mar 11 2025

Tags:
#DreamScapeMedia
#AmericaLetMeIn
#FelipeRorresMedina
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not read this as an ebook or an audiobook! Print is essential!

Medina teaches you about the immigration process for an average person (not the people who are fleeing terror and seeking asylum). I learned about how much money and paperwork and time and stress in involved for everyone who is here who was not born here, and it's frankly pretty upsetting. However, he teaches you this with a humorous, enjoyable, fictionalized (for the most part) choose-your-own-adventure. He's formatted the book in a way that makes it easy to read the whole thing, experiencing all the paths regardless of the choices you make (but not on audiobook or ebook!) I laughed out loud, learned a bit, and realize that you have to have a lot of money, patience, and determination to stay here (each year....not just once). I am astounded by how much of a person's fate is left to chance or the mood of a human being who is not at all invested in your future...the lotteries! OMG!

So glad I found this book in an independent bookstore because it never would have been on my radar without its marketing there.

[Mr. Book · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.

Thank you, Abrams, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Mr. Book just finished America, Let Me In: A Choose Your Immigration Story, by Felipe Torres Medina.

This author is a writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, for which he has gotten five Emmy nominations.

This book is a satire on the immigration process. Unfortunately, I did not find it funny or entertaining at all.

I give this book an F.

Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an F equates to 1 star. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews

Mr. Book finished reading this on November 6, 2024.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled on this lovely gem of a book while browsing my local library (love you MPL!) The catchy cover and title gave me pause and once i read the first chapter, I knew this book was coming home with me and slotting into my “next to read” coveted position! Told in 1980s “Choose your own adventure” styling, Felipe Torres Medina sheds light on the insanity that is the US immigration system. He highlights a variety of pathways, using humor and “mostly made up” stories, to take the edge off the seemingly daunting/endless paperwork and forms bureaucracy, while still giving you a sense of the very real challenges. True to my detailed engineering nature, I followed every pathway and then went back through front to back to make sure I didn’t miss any (I had!). The ending was the perfect bow on this present of a book. I am so very blessed to be born in America and I do want to help our nation move out of its terrible two-hundreds and learn how to put Legos together WELL! Viva la American Dream!

[Julia · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author clearly tried to create a satiric book with a touch of gamification, but for me this concept just didn’t work. The challenges, tracks, difficulties felt extremely distracting and they constantly interrupted the story leaving a lot of frustration. Perhaps that exact sense was the attempt to make you also feel how difficult migration can be, but as a reader I couldn’t enjoy the my time spending with this book.

What bothered me more, though, was the way the author mocked people of certain European nationalities. Using tired, offensive stereotypes and saying that it’s okay to laugh at the French because of their colonial past is unnecessarily rude and intolerant. As a migrant myself, I was also put off by the negativity toward migration to countries other than USA. I truly believe that there are so many wonderful places to live around the world and it’s absolutely okay for that place to be not in america.

[Regyn Rothney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but, I could not get onboard with the ‘choose your own adventure’. I did not take the title literal and didn’t realize there would be options to skip to different chapters and create your own story. I found it to be annoying and kept taking me out of the story.

While I did like the humor and found the author funny. The format of the book was too distracting for me to really get into it. I think the author felt this would hold the readers attention more so than a regular format - and looks like many readers liked it from the reviews. However, as a personal preference, I just really didn’t like the way the story unfolded.

Thank you to #netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

[Joye Fulgirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I didn't read this entire book, in a way I finished it, because I did follow more than one "choose your own" path as they were laid out. At first I found the book just so-so, but I think it was after getting onto a different "path" or something, I quite enjoyed the humor and insight. The concept of the book makes it one that is slightly difficult for me to want to sit and read it all the way through (do people usually do that with "choose your own adventure" books?) but I do think that it is interesting and might get more people to read about this subject than just a "regular" non-fiction book would. I appreciate the author's approach, and think this is a valuable book to have out there, and to read.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a person born in the U.S., I found this book to be a very gentle introduction to the horrors of the immigration system. Torres Medina intentionally did not address the horrors that are so horrible they can't be funny. Nonetheless, he successfully explained to me how boringly arbitrary and stupid and cruel it is in the best of circumstances. I better understand the experiences of my friends and colleagues who are on various visas--as well as the hesitancy of employers to do all the work of recruiting them. And they are the lucky ones. The book ends in the right place for such a gentle introduction: with an invitation to learn more, to educate others, and to advocate for simpler, more affordable, more just, and more inclusive policy.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd probably go 3.5 stars, but I'll round up. The choose your own adventure nature of this book really does get across how confusing, complicated, and luck-based our current immigration system is, and it does allow Medina to tell a lot of different kinds of stories. The humor didn't always work for me though - sometimes it was funny, sometimes it was trying too hard, sometimes it felt like a mismatch with the topic although I suspect it's one of those "laugh so you don't cry all the time things." The path that's based on Medina's personal story is the best. I think it's clear that he has the most connection to that path. Overall, a really interesting idea that didn't *quite* land for me.

[Tonya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Engaging. Witty.

This choose your own immigration adventure is witty and telling of the trials and many (many) tribulations those wishing to come to America face (even, and especially, amid governmental turmoil.) The would-be scenarios walk through the various means of obtaining different visas and citizenship experiences - of course they’re all hypothetical (for legal reasons…) but a walk a haunting line, that runs nearly parallel to current affairs. A brilliantly engaging delivery of pertinent information in a quick, fun, and witty way. Bravo.

[Alexis Marley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably a 2.5 but I rounded up because I think people should read it. I already know too much about the immigration system, so it might be more enlightening to people who haven't interacted with it

It could have been a really interesting book about how terribly confusing and stressful the immigration system truly is but instead it went for that whole "every line must be funny approach". My favorite section was the one where he told his own immigration story and I wish that had been fleshed out rather than just making up funny stories to try and explain different types of visas.

[Lindsay Bolender · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ingenious, inventive, and so important. Medina handles the subject matter with expert sensitivity and I really did learn a lot - when I wasn’t snorting/laughing out loud. And what better way to handle something heavy than a choose-your-own-adventure format? Brilliant. I particularly enjoyed being a bougie French immigrant child of royalty with goddess level looks who realizes she’s rolling in euros and doesn’t need to come to America anyway.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"America, Let Me In" by Filipe Torres Medina is like if Kafka and Key & Peele teamed up to write an immigration story.

It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure, but instead of dragons or treasure, you're navigating visas, border agents, and the U.S. immigration system—with all its red tape and WTF moments. It’s hilarious, sharp, and way too real.

I laughed, I cringed, I made all the wrong choices and still ended up in bureaucratic purgatory. 10/10, would get deported again.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A 'choose your own adventure' about immigration? Yeah. It sort of works. Thankfully you can read the book straight through and not have to deal with the anxiety of making choices and it works pretty well. The humor is decent but the concept is a little half baked in that it doesn't cover some of the hardest, most difficult immigration issues (which to be fair, aren't exactly comedic fodder). There's a nice example of a certain immigrant first lady.

[Aman Soneji · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid read about the complex U.S. immigration system in a fun, goosebumps choose your journey way.

The author did a good job of incorporating as much as he could about the complexity while keeping it light-hearted and simple. A great read for anyone who wants a speed run on U.S. immigration without all the technical jargon (Even though the author does apply technical jargon but it’s done in a calculated manner).

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It should be required reading for all Americans in order understand the absurdly difficult process of immigrating to the United States. While this book covered the often dry process of applying for various visas, I found it both entertaining and informative, and definitely laughed out loud while reading it.

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting take on a complex topic, this choose-your-own-adventure style book blends humor and facts to paint a pretty disturbing picture of how we actually don't welcome immigrants. I feel like this just inspires me to read a real (less funny) non-fiction version of how immigration works. Because I am floored this is how we treat people.