Undocumented Motherhood: Conversations on Love, Trauma, and Border Crossing

by Elizabeth Farfán-Santos

2023 Honorable Mention, Outstanding Book Award NACCS Tejas Foco Award for Non-Fiction, National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies
2022 Nonfiction Discovery Prize, Writers' League of Texas

An intimate portrayal of the hardships faced by an undocumented family navigating the medical and educational systems in the United States.

Claudia Garcia crossed the border because her toddler, Natalia, could not hear. Leaving behind everything she knew in Mexico, Claudia recounts the terror of migrating alone with her toddler and the incredible challenges she faced advocating for her daughter’s health in the United States. When she arrived in Texas, Claudia discovered that being undocumented would mean more than just an immigration status—it would be a way of living, of mothering, and of being discarded by even those institutions we count on to care. Elizabeth Farfán-Santos spent five years with Claudia. As she listened to Claudia’s experiences, she recalled her own mother’s story, another life molded by migration, the US-Mexico border, and the quest for a healthy future on either side. Witnessing Claudia’s struggles with doctors and teachers, we see how the education and medical systems enforce undocumented status and perpetuate disability. At one point, in the midst of advocating for her daughter, Claudia suddenly finds herself struck by debilitating pain. Claudia is lifted up by her comadres, sent to the doctor, and reminded why she must care for herself. A braided narrative that speaks to the power of stories for creating connection, this book reveals what remains undocumented in the motherhood of Mexican women who find themselves making impossible decisions and multiple sacrifices as they build a future for their families.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ethnography, Gender

176 pages, Hardcover

Published October 18, 2022

Reviews

[Emerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

“On November 4,2021, Nati García got her cochlear implants, and Beatriz Chávez got a new purse.”

CRIEDDDD omg motherhood is already complex. Being undocumented on top of that is even more complex. I give my heart and peace to mothers who are undocumented and have no one to turn to.

[Bianca Robles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elizabeth Farfán-Santos beautifully captures a mother and her daughter’s true immigration story from Mexico and what it is like to navigate the U.S. as an undocumented mother with a child who has a disability. As the interviewer and author, she weaves her own family’s immigration story into the book as appropriate to provide perspectives both from a mother and as a daughter. It’s so clear to the reader the caring relationship Farfán-Santos facilitated with Claudia, our main narrator, throughout these interviews by how she demonstrates her reverence and appreciation for Claudia’s vulnerability.

As a Latina speech language pathologist who grew up in and works in Houston with undocumented children and families, and specifically deaf children and their families all the time, this book is now one of my favorites. As I read Claudia and Nati’s story, I thought of so many of the families I work with every day. The obstacles they experience are so similar. Even with differences in our healthcare system now in 2025, such as undocumented families’ ability to obtain Medicaid for their disabled children, the difficulty accessing and navigating the medical system and education system for disabled or chronically ill children continues. Claudia is fierce, and Nati is incredibly blessed to have her fighting with her.

Thank you for sharing Claudia and Nati’s story. There is work to do.

[Colleen Spencer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is a book that presents a different perspective. However, the author is very clearly one sided on her view. She only interviews one lady who is in the US illegally. I feel more interviews from others would have made it more valid. It is not a well-written book in spite of its content flaws.

[Evelyn Perez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!