Undocumented: My Journey to Princeton and Harvard and Life as a Heart Surgeon

by Harold Fernandez

America is still the land of immigrants.  Not all of them arrive with a visa. Undocumented tells a story of an immigrant in America. From the hazardous environment that inspired his family’s desire to come, to the fear of deportation and the struggle of assimilation in the United States, to opportunities for naturalization and success in America. Undocumented portrays a beautiful story with truth and poignancy. In the process it causes the reader to reflect on what it means that millions of immigrants are streaming into America every year. The story begins in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Medellín, Colombia—a city that was devastated by the wars between the government and the drug traffickers. It further provides a vivid description of daily life and violence in a town held hostage by the ruthless gangs, hired assassins, and other criminals associated with the drug cartels. The author played soccer on the same streets where children around his own age were killing each other. When Fernandez was thirteen, his parents initiated a secret plan to smuggle him and his brother into the United States, where the parents had already settled without documents. He traveled to the Bahamas with other undocumented immigrants pretending to be tourists, with the intention of crossing the water in a small boat to the coast of Florida. A trip that usually took three days was extended into a two-week ordeal on the small island of Bimini before Fernandez could embark on a dramatic seven-hour journey in the waters of the Bermuda Triangle during the hurricane month of October 1978. As an undocumented immigrant, Fernandez experienced many struggles and conflicts. While living an underground existence, the young man found inspiration and motivation to improve his life. Living with his family in New Jersey, he learned English, excelled in school, athletics, and the Boy Scouts, and graduated as the valedictorian in his high school class. When applying for admission to college, he needed to use a forged Social Security card and green card, but his deception worked: he was accepted into Princeton University. While at Princeton, the dean of foreign students discovered that the student was an undocumented immigrant. The school’s administration met to discuss the fate of this student who had broken Princeton’s honor code by lying about his legal status on his admission application. In the end, the university granted him a pardon and decided to keep him in the student body. The process of gaining legal residency involved support from President Ronald Reagan, New Jersey’s governor Thomas Kean, and Senator Bill Bradley. After all the turmoil was over, Fernandez’s university career was capped by Princeton’s awarding him the highest distinction given to a graduating senior. Next, Fernandez decided to pursue a career in medicine. The motivation for this decision came from his experiences in Colombia and from the values and advice he received from his grandmothers. After studying at Harvard Medical School, he completed his training to become a surgeon in one of the most intense medical environments in the world: New York’s Bellevue Hospital. For several years, he spent nearly every waking hour in the wards and operating rooms of the hospital, treating patients ranging from the famous to the indigent. Today Fernandez is one of the most respected heart surgeons in New York. He also participates in numerous volunteer activities to improve the cardiovascular health of people in his community. And so this man who has received so much from his new homeland now gives back in equal measure. In Undocumented, he argues through his own example why America should take a more compassionate attitude toward immigrants even as he expresses a fierce patriotism for the land of freedom that has welcomed him in.

298 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 8, 2012

About the author

Harold Fernandez is Professor of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Hofstra- Northwell Health School of medicine. He is also Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery at Southside Hospital, and the Northwell Health System Director of Surgical Heart Failure. For the last several years, he has been selected by Castle-Connolly as one of the top thoracic surgeons in New York. More recently, he has developed a web-based program, "Show del Doctor Fernandez: Su Salud en Espanol", to inform the Hispanic community about a wide variety of health-related topics.

Dr. Fernandez has received national publicity for his story as an undocumented immigrant who has made his childhood dream of helping others a reality. He came to the United States at age of 13 from Medellin, Colombia in an epic journey that included risking his life in a small boat through the perilous waters of the Bermuda Triangle to reach the coast of Miami, and then join his parents in New York. While living in America as an undocumented immigrant, he received a degree in Molecular Biology from Princeton University, where he was also awarded the Moses Taylor Pyne Honor Prize (the highest general distinction at Princeton), Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude. Following his Princeton years, he was accepted into the highly selective Harvard Medical School--MIT program in health sciences and technology. After graduation from Harvard, he underwent training in general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery at the New York University (NYU) Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital.

Recently, he has published a memoir entitled "Undocumented: My Journey to Princeton and Harvard and Life as a Heart Surgeon," and has been featured in national media stories, including the New York Times. Meanwhile, he has not forgotten his roots. Dr. Fernandez participates in numerous volunteer activities to improve the health of people in his community, and promote the rights of undocumented immigrants in America. Over the last ten years, Dr. Fernandez has been active in reaching out to immigrant youth to promote the importance of staying in school, and the message that with faith, hard work, passion for your dream and sacrifice everything is possible.

Dr. Fernandez is married to Sandra Yasmin Fernandez, who grew up in the same neighborhood of Barrio Antioquia, in Medellín, where Dr. Fernandez was raised. They met during one of his visits to his grandmothers. The Fernandez's have two children: Jasmine (eighteen) and Brandon (eleven).

Reviews

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a personal view of being undocumented in the United States. It makes few excuses, it pleads to excuse based on accomplishments, and points out difficulties with the system.