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Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
by Jose Antonio Vargas
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who founded Define American, a “nonprofit media and culture organization that uses the power of story to transcend politics and shift the conversation about immigrants, identity, and citizenship in a changing America.” He was born in the Philippines but has lived in the U.S. since he was 12 years old. After finding his out papers were fake while applying for a driver’s permit, he spent several years navigating a sense of homelessness in the place he calls home. In 2011, he wrote an essay for The New York Times Magazine and publicly “came out” as undocumented.
DEAR AMERICA: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen is Vargas’ story of “lying, passing, and hiding.” It’s a small book that asks big questions about what it means to be “American” as an individual and in terms of national identity. He explores a lot a themes, from the personal to the big picture.
On a personal level, Vargas honestly discusses the psychological effects of family separation and not being able to “settle down.” With the threat of deportation looming, being in-limbo prevents him from staying present. Even though his undocumented status isn’t a secret, that doesn’t mean the feelings of uncertainty disappear.
Vargas' internal journey also meant questioning America and looking at the country's policies. He doesn’t ask the reader to side with a political party or to look at him as an the “good immigrant," but to be critical of the perception of the U.S. as a "nation of immigrants" by presenting revelatory facts and thoughtful perspectives on how much race, class, and immigration are intertwined and embedded in the fabric of the U.S. A few of the points that stayed with me:
- Media portrayals and rhetoric that criminalize and commodify the immigrant experience.
- Being asked to “get in line” to become a citizen when “THERE IS NO LINE.” There’s no clear path to citizenship.
- The idea of “earning” citizenship. Vargas asks what have you done to earn your box as “a citizen or national of the United States” besides being born at a certain place in a certain time? As someone born and raised in the U.S, this made me think about my own place here. Later, Vargas says home shouldn't be something you have to earn.
I approached this book with loosely formed opinions about the about the current immigration situation, but after reading, I realized how much I don’t know about U.S. immigration policy or the lives of undocumented citizens. And, amidst the current anti-immigration climate, the United States is at a critical point in how it wants to shape itself as a nation. The immigrant experience can’t be dismissed as something happening to “those people” and it’s important to read personal narratives as a way of humanization. Vargas’ story is a good place to start.
DEAR AMERICA: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen is Vargas’ story of “lying, passing, and hiding.” It’s a small book that asks big questions about what it means to be “American” as an individual and in terms of national identity. He explores a lot a themes, from the personal to the big picture.
On a personal level, Vargas honestly discusses the psychological effects of family separation and not being able to “settle down.” With the threat of deportation looming, being in-limbo prevents him from staying present. Even though his undocumented status isn’t a secret, that doesn’t mean the feelings of uncertainty disappear.
Vargas' internal journey also meant questioning America and looking at the country's policies. He doesn’t ask the reader to side with a political party or to look at him as an the “good immigrant," but to be critical of the perception of the U.S. as a "nation of immigrants" by presenting revelatory facts and thoughtful perspectives on how much race, class, and immigration are intertwined and embedded in the fabric of the U.S. A few of the points that stayed with me:
- Media portrayals and rhetoric that criminalize and commodify the immigrant experience.
- Being asked to “get in line” to become a citizen when “THERE IS NO LINE.” There’s no clear path to citizenship.
- The idea of “earning” citizenship. Vargas asks what have you done to earn your box as “a citizen or national of the United States” besides being born at a certain place in a certain time? As someone born and raised in the U.S, this made me think about my own place here. Later, Vargas says home shouldn't be something you have to earn.
I approached this book with loosely formed opinions about the about the current immigration situation, but after reading, I realized how much I don’t know about U.S. immigration policy or the lives of undocumented citizens. And, amidst the current anti-immigration climate, the United States is at a critical point in how it wants to shape itself as a nation. The immigrant experience can’t be dismissed as something happening to “those people” and it’s important to read personal narratives as a way of humanization. Vargas’ story is a good place to start.