Claes Oldenburg, who was born in Sweden and brought to the United States as a child, once proposed a monument to American immigrants. It would consist of an underwater reef in New York’s harbor. As ships entered, they would be destroyed, each wrecked ship adding to the monument.
Joanne Ramos, a Filipino-American, was also brought to the U.S. as a child. In The Farm, she spins an all-too-believable tale about a surrogacy-for-profit corporate venture that caters to the ultra-rich. Most of the surrogates are immigrants of color who agree to carry others’ babies for desperately needed money. While pregnant the women live at Golden Oaks, a luxurious country estate somewhere outside New York City. At “The Farm,” as it is called, they receive excellent food and care but are constantly monitored, cut off from families and friends, and are, as gradually becomes clear, virtual prisoners.
The mastermind behind all this...