To be an immigrant in America is to be a foreigner forever. The perpetual otherness is twice as bad for undocumented immigrants, who find themselves in the headlines almost daily, as the news attempts to fuel people’s innermost prejudices. But the very nature of these news stories is to be fleeting and skin-deep. Even when they aren’t fanning the flames, basic journalism only requires answering the five Ws (what, who, when, where, why) and maybe the “how” if there’s enough space in a publication or an extra minute in a broadcast.
For readers who want to understand the human factor behind the news headlines about immigration, there are no better storytellers than immigrants (regardless of status) themselves. Danger No Problem and Sunday or the Highway, the first two books in my Domingo the Bounty Hunter series follow Domingo, a Filipino American bounty hunter who catches undocumented immigrants whose crimes are a lot more serious than entering the country illegally. He develops great empathy for his quarries as he navigates the world of undocumented immigrants as though it’s a landscape filled with landmines.
Novels about undocumented immigrants written by immigrants are scarce, which makes this list special. Here are six of my favorite novels about undocumented immigrants written by immigrants, and one equally outstanding novel written by a first-generation Brazilian American author. These books offer poignancy and pathos you won’t find in the news. They are timely and at the same time timeless. They all deserve more readers.
America Is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan
Carlos Bulosan’s autobiographical novel, America is in the Heart, is in a class of its own. Bulosan immigrated to the United States from the Philippines in 1930, in a time of great hostility toward newcomers, especially people of color. The Philippines was then a U.S. colony, and yet Filipinos were not welcome in America. “I came to know that in many ways it was a crime to be a Filipino in California,” says Allos, the novel’s narrator. While Allos doesn’t say outright that he’s undocumented, he, his brother, and fellow Filipinos advocate for naturalization, implying their dissatisfaction over their legal status. As a migrant worker in California, Alaska, and Washington state, he experiences physical and financial hardships, racial discrimination, and violence. Despite the protagonist’s traumatic experiences, he still believes in America. Quoting his older brother, he says, “America is not merely a land or an institution. America is in the hearts of men that died for freedom; it is also in the eye of men that are building a new world.” This book, published in 1946, broke my heart. It’s remarkably relevant in 2025. The anti-immigrant sentiments in the 1930s are, unfortunately, very similar to what we see today.
The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
The very title of this excellent novel by Laila Lalami, born in Morocco, announces its overarching subject. But the novel packs a lot of serious themes, in addition to immigration. The death of Driss Guerraoui, a Moroccan immigrant living in a small town in the Mojave Desert in California, is at the center of the story. Driss was killed by a speeding car in what appears to be a hit-and-run accident, or was it? Driss’s death triggers conflicting reactions and emotions from nine characters who narrate the book. Their narrations touch on a wide range of issues, from race and religion to immigration, class, and family dynamics. Although the novel involves a murder mystery, don’t expect page-turning plot and relentless action. Lalami’s novel is an occasion for contemplation about our prejudices, fears, and hopes.
The Son of Good Fortune by Lysley Tenorio
In this novel, the titular son is a Filipino teenager named Excel (like the spreadsheet, as he points out) who’s been struggling with his lack of legal status ever since his mother told him he’s not “really here.” Without proper authorization and documentation, he doesn’t exist. This revelation by Excel’s mother, Maxima, a former B-movie action star in the Philippines, serves as a catalyst in his young life. He spends nine months in the desert of Southern California with his girlfriend Sab. As though being undocumented isn’t bad enough, Excel also must contend with his mother’s job. Maxima makes a living scamming gullible American men who seek romance online. I had the pleasure of attending the Filipina Authors Book Club online meeting in April 2023, which featured Filipino-born American author Lysley Tenorio as guest speaker. He mentioned two things that stayed with me. First, the title of his book, which I love, was actually an alternative. Tenorio had originally called it Dynamite America. Second, while the book is about immigration and mother-son relationship, Tenorio said he saw it as a novel about “sonhood,” or what it means to be a son.
Edge Case by YZ Chin
In Edge Case, Edwina is a Malaysian of Chinese descent working at an AI startup in New York City. Her husband, Marlin, who’s Malaysian of Indian descent, has apparently left her. She must look for Marlin without revealing his disappearance to friends, family, and coworkers, because she doesn’t want him to get in trouble given that their work visas are expiring. The couple are double immigrants in the sense that their ancestors immigrated to Malaysia from China and India, and now they themselves have immigrated to America from Malaysia. “I was born into diaspora, that I had merely moved from a place that wasn’t mine to another place that also wasn’t mine,” says Edwina. Malaysian-born YZ Chin has written an immigration novel that’s one of the most realistic I’ve read. She nails down the crushing immigration application process and the recent immigrant’s fears, stresses, and aspirations. Most of all, she does this with a great sense of humor.
Amnesty by Aravind Adiga
The fear of deportation and feelings of displacement are common among undocumented immigrants throughout the world, and Amnesty portrays this brilliantly. Danny, originally from Sri Lanka, works as a cleaner in Sydney, Australia. The government has rejected his application for refugee status, so he must toe the line. With a steady job and a girlfriend, he’s fairly content being invisible in his adopted country. But Danny’s invisibility is threatened when one of his clients is murdered. He knows the dead woman had an affair with another client of his. Danny faces a moral dilemma. He has no rights in his adopted country, and yet he has a moral responsibility to help in the case of the dead woman. Should he tell the police what he knows to help get justice for the victim, even though it would mean revealing his legal status to authorities and risking deportation? Indian-born Adiga presents Sydney from the unique lens of an undocumented immigrant during a thrilling twenty-four hour period. Danny’s predicament forces us to examine the importance of a citizen’s responsibilities vis-à-vis his rights.
Extreme Vetting by Roxana Arama
Romanian-born author Roxana Arama’s Extreme Vetting gets its title from a term popularized during Trump’s first campaign, which refers to a proposal for a more draconian screening process for would-be immigrants. The novel follows Laura Holban, a Romanian American immigrant like Arama. Laura, an immigration lawyer in Seattle, advocates for vulnerable undocumented immigrants facing deportation. When David Ramirez, a high school student who’s the same age as Laura’s daughter, asks for Laura’s help, she takes his case. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have arrested David’s Guatemalan father, Emilio. Laura has the experience, passion, and moral wherewithal to help Emilio avoid deportation to his native country where his family was murdered. But as soon as she files for Emilio’s asylum application, her life is turned upside down. The people who killed Emilio’s family are bent on getting rid of Emilio and Laura both. In the end, Laura isn’t just providing legal representation to her client, she also must protect his life and hers. This thriller explores the complexity of immigration laws and application process by weaving a conspiracy involving ICE and human trafficking into the plot. In doing so, Arama highlights society’s ridiculously high expectations of immigrants who are seen as a monolithic group regardless of ethnicity.
Wait by Gabriella Burnham
The Nantucket of American-born Burnham in this novel showcases the great disparity of wealth on the island. On the one hand, there’s Elise, whose undocumented Brazilian mother, Gilda, works 70 hours a week as a restaurant cook to send her to college. On the other hand, there’s Sheba, Elise’s best friend, who owns a posh summer home on the island. The lives of Elise and her younger sister, Sophie, first-generation Brazilian Americans, are upended when their mother disappears. Gilda, who’s supposed to join Elise at her college graduation in North Carolina, fails to come home one day. Instead of attending her graduation ceremony, Elise goes home to Nantucket. By the time the sisters hear from Gilda, she’s been deported to São Paulo, Brazil. Worse, the sisters are being evicted from their house. They take refuge in Sheba’s guesthouse while they figure out how to help their mother return to America. Ironically, Sheba’s generosity serves to highlight the stark difference between Elise’s and Sheba’s economic status. I see this novel ultimately as a story of two homecomings—first, for Elise, who returns to Nantucket after spending four years away in college, and for Gilda, whose deportation to Brazil ends her American Dream. The vicissitudes of life force both women to see their birthplaces in a dramatically new light.
