Please welcome Diane Guerrero!
-♪ ♪ -(cheering, applause)
-Welcome to the show. -Thank you for having me.
Huge fan of yours from Orange Is the New Black,
and now you've gone on to do other great things.
You are on Superior Donuts now as well.
You are on Jane the Virgin.
Do you ever sometimes confuse the characters,
because, like, sometimes you'll be moving between shows?
Like, will you say a line, like, as Lina,
like, but it's supposed to be a Maritza line?
Will you ever do that? Like, just be, like,
hard-core in Superior Donuts, and people are like,
"Uh, you're not in prison. What are you doing?"
Yeah. I try to be hard-core in everything that I do.
Oh, you just keep it consistent?
-I just keep it very consistent. -Oh, I like that.
That's, like, a weird role to take with you.
Just, like, "Yes, this is a kid's show,
-and I'm loco, that's what I am." -I know. I know.
People actually, they're trying to, like,
-kind of, like, toning me down. Yeah. -Right, right, right.
You-you-you, uh, play many different characters,
but a lot of people know you from Orange Is the New Black.
-Yeah. -A character that in many ways,
I guess, gave us a different insight
into why someone would be in prison.
Did many people connect to that character and her storyline?
Yeah. It was actually really great.
I mean, I... when I first, you know, signed on for the role,
I was like: Great, a Latina woman in prison.
This is far from what people expect from me.
-Right. -Um, but as I got into it,
and how I saw people respond to it,
it was, um, it was really... it was very real.
And the stories that we got to tell were real,
and, you know, I guess knowing what I know about myself now,
as the person who I am now, it's very fitting
that that was my first break,
-Right. -to tell these kinds of stories.
And do you think it makes a big difference
to tell the stories that go beyond what we think of people?
Because, as you say, when you know more about the person,
you see them as a human being-- is that really important to you?
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's kind of
what I've tried to do my entire life,
is to have people see me as human.
-Right. -And with the stories that I tell, with my own life,
with my, you know, telling stories of my community,
it's just humanizing my story.
Right. And I think that's something you did amazingly
in your memoir that you wrote in 2016.
Like, you wrote... a fascinating account
of your story, and it's the book we have here,
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided.
-Yes. -And you tell the story
of being a young American child
who has two parents who are undocumented,
and they get deported.
-And you were 14 years old at the time? -Yeah.
How do you even begin to process the world
when your parents have been taken away from you?
Like, where do you begin in your mind?
Um, well, it was something that I always had to live with.
I mean, I lived with the fear of losing my family,
of being separated-- my family was brutally honest with me.
I mean, I was, like, five years old,
and they were, you know, telling me,
-"Look, this is what's gonna happen," you know? -Right.
I was, like, smoking a cigarette at five years old.
I get it, Dad. This is happening.
-Yeah, I know where the money is. -Right.
Um, not much money.
Um, so I was always sort of preparing for this day
and, um, hoping that it wouldn't happen,
hoping that things would change, hoping that my parents
would find a path for citizenship,
but that day never came.
So when it happened, I just had to buck up, really.
I just had to take the words
that my parents had left with me.
And they told me to be strong
and to continue following my dreams,
and living my life for me, and that's what I did.
You share it in the book, and, honestly,
it's heart-wrenching when it happens.
Because you tell the story of this young girl at the time,
who is living in a world where people don't seem
to think about the ramifications of what happens.
We have these discussions.
We see people saying, "Well, take the kids away."
I mean, you know, Jeff Sessions just announced
that that's what they're going to be doing at the border:
-separating parents from the kids. -Yeah.
And people just say it like it's an arbitrary thing,
but you were someone who was separated from your parents.
Do you-- like, is there a way you wish it would be different?
Is there something you wish they could do
to try and change the way it is?
Yeah. Not separate families.
-You know. -Yeah.
-As simple as that. -(cheers and applause)
-And I-I guess... No, no. -No. No, I-I know. Yeah.
And I guess what I'm saying to that is--
because it is obvious-- but I think what got me
-was how you had to live without them. -Right.
That was the thing, 'cause people weren't checking up
on you, and that's what you talk about in the book.
Right. People don't understand what separation
of family really looks like.
And that's what I try to recount in my story.
I just try to say, okay, um,
there are huge consequences to separating families.
And not just for people who are undocumented,
who, apparently, this country does not care about,
-but for U.S. citizens as well. -Right.
And for me, I mean, it sort of felt,
or it absolutely was that my life was not counted
-as fully citizen, -Right.
I suppose, because my parents were undocumented.
And we went through serious hardships.
And many children get left behind the way I did.
And I was able to have a big imagination,
and continue my father's words
to continue on living on my dream and working hard.
I mean, I really, believe me,
I-I would eat the American Dream for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
I'd be like, "Yeah, this is what I'm doing."
You know, it's kind of, bootstraps and all.
Really not understanding
what the immigration system looked like,
trying to figure out a way for myself,
knowing that if I continue to work hard,
if I was resourceful, that I was going to make it.
But that's not the case for everyone.
And for most kids, it's not a happy ending.
And I think that with my book, I just try
to show my community in a different light.
You know, 2016 was really tough for me.
I never shared my story before.
And when I heard my community attacked,
it was mind-blowing, because, I mean, I've always heard
undocumented people be dehumanized
and criminalized, but not in this way.
And as I came to my own,
and I came to understand my truth, and accept my truth,
I was like, this is something that I cannot let go.
And I can't let people talk like this about my community,
'cause I know the strength and the love
that my community has.
And I know this because I lived it.
-You lived it. -Yes.
You shared it.
Your parents are really proud of you
and you write about that in the book, which is beautiful.
-Yeah. -Um, thank you for being with us
on the show and sharing your story again.
-I really appreciate it. -Thank you.
The season finale Superior Donuts
will air May 14 on CBS.
My Family Divided will be available on July 17,
And In the Country We Love is available now.
Diane Guerrero, everybody.