Chapter 6 of The Undocumented Americans covers the difficulties immigrants face toward the end of their lives. Karla Cornejo Villavicencio points out that most undocumented immigrants are forced to spend their lives doing hard physical work, which often leads to health problems as they age. They are also unlikely to have health insurance, meaning that they do not enjoy access to high quality care.

The chapter contains numerous interviews with aging immigrants and their children. The children are eager to care for their parents but struggle to do so effectively while dealing with their own problems. The parents give a variety of responses, from declaring that it is the duty of their children to look after them in their old age to worrying that they have become a burden and being ashamed of losing their independence.

Cornejo Villavicencio concludes by discussing her own family. Her father has had difficulty in finding work as he nears retirement age and is becoming increasingly disheartened. The author hopes to be able to provide a happy and dignified retirement for her parents, but many undocumented immigrants are not in a position to achieve this.