Illegally Yours: A Memoir

What happens when the all-American high school student discovers he's undocumented? Rafa's parents didn't want him to grow up feeling different because, as his mom told him: "Dreams should not have borders." Rafa had no idea of his immigration status until he tried to get his driver's license during his junior year of high school. Suddenly, his perfectly curated and slightly racist (race-ish, if you will) American life came undone. While his parents were relieved to no longer live a lie in front of their son, Rafa found himself completely unraveling in the face of his uncertain future.

Illegally Yours is a heartwarming, comical look at how this struggling Ecuadorian immigrant family bonded together to navigate Rafa's school life, his parents' work lives, and their shared secret life as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. From stories of how he used the Ricky Martin/Jennifer Lopez "Latin Explosion" to his social advantage in the 90s to how his parents, who were doctors in their home country of Ecuador, were reduced to working menial jobs in the US. The family's secret became their struggle, and their struggle became their hustle. An exploration of race within the Latinx community, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?