My Family Divided: One Girl's Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope

My Family Divided is a 2019 memoir written by Diane Guerrero and Erica Moroz, adapted for a youth audience from Guerrero’s 2016 adult memoir In the Country We Love: My Family Divided. It tells the story of Guerrero’s experiences in the US as the US-born child of undocumented immigrants from Colombia, especially focusing on the challenges she faced after her family was deported to Colombia when she was still a minor. Guerrero’s memoir stresses the Importance of Education on Immigration Issues by Using Trauma As Fuel for Hope of a Brighter Future and explores The Strengths and Fragilities of Familial Bonds through the relationship with her parents before and after they were deported. As a successful actor with celebrity status, Guerrero was able to reach a wide audience with her memoir, highlighting her family’s experience with the US immigration system as part of her activism in the cause of immigration reform. Guerrero’s adult memoir received unexpected attention from 12- to 18-year-old audiences, receiving the Alex Award 2017 for influential youth literature. Following this, Guerrero decided to have her book adapted for young audiences, working with Moroz, an established co-author and ghostwriter of youth literature.

This guide uses the First Square Fish 2019 edition.

Content Warning: This guide contains descriptions of self-harm, attempted suicide, and sensitive content reflecting the immigrant experience, including discrimination and familial separation.

Summary

Guerrero’s memoir includes childhood photos with each chapter, showing her growing up, her family, and community.

Guerrero opens her memoir by writing that it is a story of loss, hope, and a call to action to improve the rights of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US. When Diane was 14 years old, her parents and her brother, who were undocumented immigrants, were deported to Columbia, leaving US-born Diane behind in Boston, where the family had made their home. Diane had to rebuild her life as an unaccompanied minor.

Guerrero recounts her family history first. Born in 1986, Diane was the only member of her family who had US citizenship; her parents, Maria and Hector, had immigrated to the US on a 90-day visa with the hopes of staying and remaining undetected. Eric, Maria’s child from a previous relationship, came with them. Family time was precious for Diane, and she recalls many fond memories.

Guerrero describes family challenges. The house was constantly filled with the fear of being discovered. She felt obliged to keep her family situation a secret and carried this burden for years. Diane’s parents worked hard at menial jobs to afford the life they had in the US. They immigrated after both experiencing family tragedies in their youth, seeking a safer life and brighter future. Eric felt increasingly out of place and unwanted by his stepfather, Diane’s father. His mental health suffered and Diane watched her brother decline. Her parents argued frequently. During their time in the US, Hector was defrauded of several thousand dollars by a fake lawyer who claimed to be helping undocumented immigrants gain legal status.

Diane’s school life had its problems but she became involved in leadership and activism at a young age and helped spread awareness about safe sex. She embraced her passion for performance first through music and singing. Meanwhile, Eric became a father and husband.

Diane and her father (“Papi”) were always close. Diane’s relationship with her mother (“Mami”) was complicated by her Mami’s choices and frequent absences as a result of deportation. Mami decided to open an old claim for citizenship that seemed to bring attention to the family; Diane’s Mami was detained without warning and deported to Colombia. Diane’s Papi managed to escape the radar temporarily, and Diane’s mother regularly begged Diane to move to Colombia. Diane’s Mami returned to the US by unofficial means and was deported again a week later. Diane entered puberty without her mother to guide her.

Diane’s mother returned again to the US and the family hoped they would be able to remain. When Diane was 14, she entered Boston Arts Academy to train in performance arts. Soon after, both of her parents were taken from their home and detained. Diane was terrified and isolated. Diane’s best friends growing up, Gabriela and Sabrina, proved instrumental in providing support: Gabriela’s mother offered her a home for a year. Diane visited her parents in the detention center before they left, one of the most difficult and traumatic experiences of her life. Diane went to Colombia for the first time the following summer and spent a month there, reuniting with her parents and meeting local family members. She was saddened to find that her parents had split up and were each living in impoverished conditions.

A year later, Diane moved in with Sabrina and spent most of her time and energy on school. She got her first job and started to feel more independent and confident in herself, hoping to become an actor. She graduated high school and was accepted into Regis College. Her successes were accompanied by sadness that her parents had not been there to see her grow up. In college, Diane felt labeled as a member of a racial minority, but spending a semester in London and another in Washington gave her the chance to explore her identity and freedom. Unfortunately, it also put her in massive debt, and she isolated herself from friends and family more and more as time went on. Diane’s grades dropped, and she began to self-harm, considering suicide at one point. Thoughts of her family helped her through this mental health crisis. Diane began talking to a Latina therapist who empathized with Diane, encouraged her hopes for the future, and validated Diane’s feelings of anger and betrayal toward her mother for exposing the family.

Diane took acting classes and started to audition, finding small parts here and there. Eventually, Diane moved to New York, where she continued to audition and take classes. At this time, she reflected on her past and her relationship with her mother, which had become virtually broken off. Diane decided to visit her Mami, now in Madrid. She discovered that her mother was happier and healthier, living an independent life. Diane expressed her anger toward her mother and forgave her, improving the relationship. Diane found an agent and was given a major role in one of Netflix’s first major series, Orange Is the New Black, bringing her success and celebrity. Today, Diane Guerrero continues to act professionally while seeking to improve her country and the lives of undocumented immigrants who live there. Guerrero concludes that she intends her writing to inform others about the experiences of immigrants, and she speaks out about policies that hurt immigrants. She encourages her readers to get involved in any way they can. Guerrero hopes that the United States’ future is one in which acceptance and understanding are at the forefront, rather than intolerance and hate.