I believe everyone must read the undocumented. It just opens everyone’s minds to what people go through everyday as an undocumented.

A helpful book that speaks to immigration issues in the author's U.S. context, to my Canadian context with its different immigration issues, and to anyone who wonders about how to relate to strangers in their midst.

Love Undocumented
Risking Trust in a Fearful World
by Sarah Quezada
Herald Press

Christian , Religion & Spirituality
Pub Date 21 Dec 2017

I am reviewing a copy of Love Undocumented Through Herald Press and Netgalley:

This book deals with the issues of immigrants both legal and illegal. Love Undocumented brings the issues of immigrants to light.

In this book we will see how Sarah Quezada and a new friend meets with lawyers, stands at the borders and meets with immigrants in detention centers. With Biblical Wisdom Quezada explores how as Christians we should teach immigrants.

I give Love Undocumented five out of five stars!

I've followed Quezada's blog for quite a while, so I knew some of her and her husband's back story but I enjoyed reading a more detailed description of everything from how they met to where they are today. I appreciate her candor as she tells their story. I also find her sincerity refreshing as she admits how little she knew in the beginning about immigration and how much she has learned. Of course I also enjoyed reading about their dating relationship and how they fell in love.

The balance in this book between personal stories, research, and scripture is superb. The book could have been written as just a memoir of their personal experience without all of the research and still would have been great. But with the extra time Quezada took to learn more about the details of immigration and the specific scriptures to back everything it took the book to another level. I gained a new perspective reading about Moses, Joseph, Esther, Noemi, Ruth, and even Jesus himself in light of immigration. I hadn't ever thought about any of those stories that way and learned a lot. It was good to be reminded that we are called to reach out to others no matter their socioeconomic status, race, language, or culture.

I've previously read books by immigrants or about immigrants, have a Master's degree in Spanish, and am an ESL teacher at a school with many immigrants so much of the information in this book wasn't brand new news for me. But I did appreciate the perspective of a person to whom it was all brand new information. She included a lot of details I might have missed and assumed more people knew. I like that she was careful to dispel myths and misconceptions that many people have about immigrants.

I love it when a book makes me really stop to think. I pray that through my job I can continue to be a light in the lives of my immigrant students. I also pray that everyone that reads this book will feel called to go outside their comfort zone and be Christ to an immigrant in their church, neighborhood, school, or workplace.

I received an advanced copy of this book through the publisher on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I am so thankful that I decided to read this book. Honestly, I did not know what to expect when I read the title and description. But as a believer who knew next to nothing about immigration laws and how all of this relates to Scripture this book is gold. Obviously, this has been a hot topic in the recent years and an even bigger issue in the most recent election. Throughout this last election I found myself wanting to know more.

The author Sarah Quezada is a Christian who is married to a former undocumented immigrant from Guatemala. Throughout the book, she explains the history and laws surrounding immigration in the United States and through it all weaves in her story and experiences with the immigration system. She ties up everything with our responsibility as believers and backs it up with Scripture.

I would definitely recommend this book. I know there are other books that you can read on this subject, but this one is the perfect balance of story, research and Scripture.

Here are just a few of the quotes I loved:

“We are united by our shared humanity. Every person—with their cultural background, language, sense of humor, musical tastes, and more—gives us a wider view of who God is.”

“We open our arms to immigrants, documented or not, not on the basis of their purity or deservedness but because of Christ’s love for us in our unreservedness.”

So if you are a believer who is interested in this topic at all, go read this book. It will be released on January 16, 2018.

I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.