How immigration laws criminalize the presence of undocumented humans

The Jefferson Exchange

( University of Arizona Press)

Dr. Rafael Martinez is among a very small population of Americans who have earned a doctorate degree. That's only 2% of the U.S. population, according to the Brookings Institution. Even among public school principals, only about 10% have PhDs. For Dr. Martinez, now a professor at a major university, the odds were stacked high against him throughout his youth.

Rafael's presence in the United States was against the law. For most of his life, he was undocumented in a nation that devalued his humanity. His parents worked hard and he studied hard. But all that hard work and dedication to achieve took place in the shadows, always in fear of being caught doing the right thing in the wrong place. That wrong place is the United States.

Now Dr. Martinez has emerged from the shadows as an outspoken member of a population of people fighting for systemic change in America. Through his new book, "Illegalized: Undocumented Youth Movements in the United States."

Dr. Rafael Martinez joins the Exchange to shed light upon his documented work as an "undocuscholar" revealing hidden truths about the undocumented landscape in America.