“Poignant… An eye-opening exploration of the DREAM Act and those who have tried to find safe harbor in the United States under its aegis. A well-crafted, timely contribution to the immigration debate.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Deeply reported, empathetic, and beautiful, The Making of a Dream is the definitive account of the moral drama that created a new group of Americans and empowered them to call on their country to live up to its ideals.” — Alexis Madrigal, staff writer at the Atlantic

“This inspiring, well-written, well-documented account is an important read for Americans on all sides of this lingering issue.” — Library Journal

“Wides-Muñoz movingly traces the 12 years of attempted legislation and political activism that culminated in the DREAM Act… This is a timely look at a contentious issue.” — Publishers Weekly

“A sweeping chronicle of the immigrant rights movement… Wides-Muñoz expertly describes the broader reform movement, through vivid thumbnail portraits of key students… Wides-Muñoz reminds us that thanks to the ability of young people to dream, what seems impossible today may yet prove achievable tomorrow.” — Helen Thorpe, New York Times Book Review

“An intimate look at the complicated lives and remarkable aspirations--thwarted and fulfilled--of people searching for a way out of a peculiar historical trap. The Making of a Dream is, in turns, inspiring, heartbreaking, hopeful, and maddening…just as it must be.” — Ray Suarez, author ofLatino Americans: The 500-Year Legacy That Shaped a Nation

“Powerful. Evocative and illuminating. A deeply empathetic look at those caught between two worlds and who risk losing everything in a time of deceitful political rhetoric. Read it.” — Alfredo Corchado, author of Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter’s Journey Through a Country’s Descent into Darkness  

“A necessary and exciting book about five young people whose dreams and struggles are interwoven with this country’s best hopes for itself. This is also the story of the legislators, activists, and ordinary citizens who stand behind them, and of the very slow grinding of the wheels of justice.” — Alma Guillermoprieto, author of Dancing with Cuba: a Memoir of the Revolution

“Essential… A valuable and detailed look at lawmaking and policy that affect people and communities across the nation as well as portraits of heroic youth willing to put their own status in jeopardy to advocate for fair treatment, not only for themselves and their families but for all immigrants.” — Booklist

“Eye-opening… Poignant… A well-crafted, timely contribution to the immigration debate.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Wides-Muñoz probes deep into the dreamers’ relationships with their parents and often finds empathy and concern.” — Washington Post

A timely and powerful chronicle of a generation’s great civil rights battle as witnessed through the experiences of five young undocumented immigrants fighting to become Americans

We often call them DREAMers: young people who were brought or sent to the United States as children. They attend our local schools; work jobs that contribute to our economy. Some apply to attend university here, only to discover their immigration status when the time comes to fill out the paperwork. Without a clear path forward, and no place to return to, these young people have fought for decades to remain in the one place they call home—a nation increasingly divided over whether they should be allowed to stay.

The Making of a Dream begins at the turn of the millennium, as the first of a series of “DREAM Act” proposals is introduced, and follows the efforts of policy makers, advocates, and five very different undocumented immigrant leaders to achieve some legislative reform—or at least some temporary protection. Their coming-of-age-in-America stories of love and loss intersect with the watershed political and economic events of the last two decades, including the Obama administration’s landmark Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) order in 2012, and the abrupt announcement by President Trump of his plan to end it, throwing into turmoil the lives of nearly 800,000 immigrants and their families.

The Making of a Dream charts the course of a social movement, with all its failures and successes, and allows us an intimate, very human view of the complexity of immigration in America. Heartbreaking and hopeful, maddening and uplifting, this ode to the legacy of the DREAM Act is a record of our times—and the definitive story of the young people of our nation who want nothing more than to be a part of it.