Diane Guerrero

Diane Guerrero is a well-known actress who is in two of my favorite shows, Orange Is the New Black and Jane the Virgin. She recently wrote a memoire, In the Country We Love: My Family Divided about her experience with undocumented immigrants living in America. Diane’s entire family was born in Colombia except for her, so she was left alone in Boston when her family was deported. She became an ambassador for citizenship and naturalization for the White House during the Obama administration and is still very vocal about the issue.

On February 27th, 2017, Diane Guerrero came to The Ohio State University to speak about her book. She spoke in the Grand Ballroom, and nearly every seat was filled. The event began with a professor asking Guerrero some questions about her career, her life and her book, and the event ended with some questions from the audience. Guerrero made the issue of citizenship very real, and her story highlighted the problems with our current system and the need for change. She spoke of the uncertainty that many people are feeling right now, and ways that everyone can get involved. She evoked many feelings from the audience–sympathy, compassion, anger, and love. Citizenship and naturalization are issues that I have limited personal experience with, so it was a great opportunity for me to learn something and become more familiar with the real-life issues that people deal with every day.