20 Books About Immigration Everyone Should Read
In the last four years under the Trump administration and its anti-immigration policies, it’s become more important than ever, as Americans, to learn more about immigrant experiences. If you were born in the U.S. and don’t have any personal, firsthand experience with immigration, or any close friends who have that experience and feel comfortable enough to share it with you, one of the easiest ways to educate yourself is to read about it. If you want to take that initiative, but feel overwhelmed or lost about where to start, just keep scrolling, because we’ve put together an essential reading list of books about immigration—both fiction and nonfiction—that everyone should read.
Separated: Inside an American Tragedy by Jacob Soboroff
In Separated, journalist Jacob Soboroff digs deep into the Trump administration’s controversial and devastating child-separation policy, a dark spot in modern U.S. history that every American should be educated about.
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The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri
Dina Nayeri fled Iran with her mother and brother when she was just eight years old, eventually settling in Oklahoma after she was granted asylum in the United States. In The Ungrateful Refugee, Nayeri shares her own story, along with those of other refugees and asylum seekers. The book will challenge everything you thought you knew about the refugee crisis—and the way Western governments treat asylum-seekers and refugees from around the world.
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The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande
In her harrowing (and sometimes even hilarious) memoir, Reyna Grande shares the story of her parents’ decision to cross the border into the United States—and to eventually bring their children with them—in pursuit of the American Dream.
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One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger by Matthew Yglesias
In One Billion Americans, Vox founder Matthew Yglesias argues that the real key to making America great again is to welcome more immigrants, not fewer. And way, way more, at that. The book employs logic and real-world examples to help explain why increased immigration should be anything but scary for Americans.
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The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
This poignant novel follows Nuri, a beekeeper, and his wife, Afra, who are forced to leave their happy life in Aleppo, Syria behind when war ravages their country.
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A Nation of Immigrants by John F. Kennedy
Former president John F. Kennedy was passionate about immigration reform and, in his final published book, he summarized the important roles that immigration and immigrants have played in shaping and building the United States, and presented his vision for immigration policies that would encourage that tradition to continue.
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One Mighty and Irresistible Tide: The Epic Struggle Over American Immigration, 1924-1965 by Jia Lynn Yang
This book tells the (seriously) gripping story of how how a 1924 measure passed by Congress created a system of ethnic quotas that hindered large-scale immigration to the United Staes for decades to come, leading directly to the divisive immigration debates that dominate politics today.
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Exit West by Moshin Hamid
Exit West is an incredible, unique novel that mixes the grounded, harsh reality of war and life as a refugee with a touch of magical realism (the lead characters travel around the world looking for a new home, but do so by walking through random, magical doors that transport them to new cities).
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This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto by Suketu Mehta
In This Land Is Our Land, author Suketu Mehta tackles the topic of anti-immigrant backlash around the world, drawing on both of his own experiences growing up as an Indian-born teenager growing up in New York City and the unique perspective he’s gained after years of reporting on the topic both in the U.S. and abroad. In the book, Mehta breaks down exactly why and how the fear of immigrants is harming Western countries.
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Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This novel follows Ifemelu and Obinze, two Nigerian teenagers who fall in love, but are separated after graduation when they both move to different countries. Years later, they meet again, both changed by their own experiences as immigrants.
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The Devil’s Highway: A True Story by Luis Alberto Urrea
This book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and it’s easy to see why. In it, Urrea shares the story of a group of men who attempted to cross the Mexican border via the “Devil’s Highway”—the deadliest region of North America, into the Arizona desert. Their story is one that will stick with you and change the way you think about the American immigration debate forever.
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The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen
This collection of short stories by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen are set in both the United States and Vietnam, and delve into the immigrant experience and what it’s like to live torn between two countries.
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My (Underground) American Dream: My True Story as an Undocumented Immigrant Who Became a Wall Street Executive by Julissa Arce
Arce’s first memoir is, well, pretty much exactly what the title promises: The story of her journey from growing up as an undocumented immigrant and chasing her dreams of becoming successful (and wealthy) as a Wall Street exec.
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The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henríquez
The Book of Unknown Americans tells the story of a 15-year-old girl named Maribel Rivera, whose family leaves Mexico for the United States in search of medical care for Maribel after she suffers a terrible injury. Once the Riveras are in the U.S., Maribel finds herself swept up in a star-crossed romance with the son of the mayor of their new town.
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Barefoot Heart: Stories of a Migrant Child by Elva Treviño Hart
This autobiographical account paints a vivid picture of what day-to-day life is like for the child of migrant farm workers. Even though this sounds sad (and, at times, it certainly is), overall it’s an inspirational story of a family overcoming the hardships of constant discrimination and life in a country where they don’t speak the language through relentless hard work and determination.
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The Beast: Riding the Rails and Dodging Narcos on the Migrant Trail by Óscar Martínez
In The Beast, journalist Óscar Martínez recounts the terrifying things he witnessed during the two years he spent traveling the Migrant Trail from Central America to the U.S. border, which included (but were not limited to) assault, sexual violence, and kidnappings.
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American Street by Ibi Zoboi
If you’re looking for a YA book that expertly tackles the subject of immigration, look no further than Ibi Zoboi’s novel about a young girl named Fabiola who travels to the United States from Haiti with her mother. When her mother is detained, however, Fabiola is left to navigate life in a new, strange country all on her own.
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Native Speaker by Chang-rae Lee
This novel isn’t about the actual process of immigration so much as the longer-term effects leaving one’s home country—and culture—behind can have on a person and on generations of a family.
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In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero
Actress Diana Guerrero is best known for her roles in Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, but she’s also one of the thousands of Americans who have been personally impacted by the United States’ immigration policies. Although Guerrero was born in the U.S., her parents were not and, when she was just 14 years old, they were detained and deported—and she, as a natural born citizen, stayed behind in the U.S. on her own.
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Undocumented: A Dominican Boy’s Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League by Dan-el Padilla Peralta
Dan-el Padilla Peralta’s gripping memoir tells the story of his journey from homelessness to Princeton. Peralta came to the U.S. with his parents as a child, but while his father decided to return to Santo Domingo, his mother stayed in NYC, determined to build a better life for her children. When he was in elementary school, his family struggled with homelessness and he often took refuge in the library, where he met a wealthy volunteer named Jeff who would ultimately help him earn a scholarship to one of the most elite private schools in Manhattan and, later, Princeton University.
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