Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen
Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas
Reviewed by Sean Hunter, Madeleine Le, Jorge Hurtado, and Karina Hernandez
Review:
Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen explores Jose Antonio Vargas’ journey in America. Out of his own will, Vargas’ mother sneaks him out of the Philippines and migrates him to America illegally in hopes of living a good life. However, given his undocumented status, Vargas is confronted with various challenges which limit his opportunity to make a stable living. From residing in Mountain View of California to rising fame as a journalist, Vargas is forced to break the law while attempting to earn his legal status. The story takes place from 1993-2019. Throughout the novel, although Vargas focuses on his personal story, he also explains and connects the historical context surrounding illegal immigration. Events such as the DREAM Act and the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act are emphasized. The question the author would ask his reader is explicit: Do undocumented immigrants earn the right to make a living within America? Jose Antonio Vargas’ Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen providing an intriguing undocumented immigrant narrative that represents the struggles of living in America.
Identity is an essential theme in the text. With his legal status, Vargas finds himself to be alienated from his own peers, especially of the Mountain View community. In terms of legal status, Vargas is limited in his opportunities. For example, in his childhood, only the “green card” defined who he was. Without a legitimate green card, he would be denied access to a public education (Vargas 31). The concepts would also expand in other areas, such as finding a job or obtaining a driver's license. Throughout the text, when attempting to survive under the law, Vargas has always expressed feelings of irrelevance. In other words, often, he would feel that in his illegal status, he would become a burden. In addition, he would fear he would end up stealing an opportunity from someone else. When Vargas was applying for a job as a journalist in the Washington Post, he thought he was taking someone else’s spot for the opportunity (Vargas 83). The novel has Vargas attempting to break away from this mindset, and he rises in social status.
Race was a well-explored concept in Vargas’ identity. As a member of the Asian community, Vargas found himself invisible or uncategorized in culture. The Asian community tends to be overlooked in the discussion of immigrants coming into the U.S. Vargas would raise the argument that America fails to achieve diversity and inclusivity. In his own words, America tends to see only black and white, where Asians and Latinos are “stuck in the middle of one leg of that wobbly stool” (Vargas 28). In other words, Vargas considers the idea that these communities are often left unsupported, having to deal with struggles on their own.
Vargas would raise the question on literacy. In his rise as a journalist, he would enter the field on politics. He tackles the criticisms of illegal immigration and lets the reader view his own comprehension of its history. One of the important concepts that Vargas emphasizes is media bias. In other words, the media one consumes may provide an entirely different perspective on particular events. For example, he would emphasize how news sources such as Fox would portray undocumented immigrants as “enemies” of the country (Vargas 150). Vargas, in his novel, tries to bring clarity to these conflicts.
Vargas takes a stance by which he supports undocumented immigrants. America, from childhood, would be perceived as a utopia with endless possibilities. However, through his personal struggles, Vargas represents a dystopia in which the immigrant is forced to make an America of his own. Consistently, he explores his story and intertwines it with the history of America.
Biography:
In his later life, Vargas eventually went onto become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for the Breaking News Reportings on his articles about the Virginia Tech shootings. He continued to make his mark on the world through films that he made and produced. Vargas’s tv special “White People” that he produced about being a white person in America became Emmy-nominated. Vargas’s other works, such as Broadway plays, were also Tony-nominated as well.
Alongside his groundbreaking works of art that have left lasting impacts on the world, Vargas has supported scholarships and created organizations to support immigrants and motivate them. His non-profit organization Define America strives to change how immigrants in America are perceived through the power and usage of media. In his memoir and throughout all of his life works, Jose Antonio Vargas shifts the narratives and attempts to break any negative stereotypes that have been painted by media sources and put onto immigrants.
Instructional Resources:
·
Digital
Tools For Perspective on Immigration
This provides three digital
tools for helping students understand perspectives on immigration through fun
interactables, which students can access at any point.
·
The New Americans Series
Guide and Activities
The New Americans is a series
surrounding the complex situation of migrants and, this guide helps Educators
navigate the series while also providing activities to use in the classroom to encourage
discussion around the subject.
·
Introducing
Discussion about the Causes of Immigration
Within the article is a lesson
plan to aid in the discussion of the reason persons migrate from their place
of origin, aims to put the students in the position of the migrant so that they
may relate and understand the hardship while migrating.
·
Toolkit
in Aiding Undocumented Students About Their Rights
A wonderful resource for
educators, students, families, and community leaders to access a toolkit in
helping undocumented students understand their rights and the rights of their
families. This toolkit is intended for students K-12
·
Help
Create A Safe Space for Migrant Students
The guide provides resources and how-to’s on providing a safe place for undocumented students and their
families. Providing a proper education and environment that fosters a
non-toxic relationship between all involved.
·
Helping
Undocumented Students Strive Towards Higher Education
Pushing undocumented towards
higher education even though they may not be aware they are able to do is the
objective of this resource. From how to apply, where to apply, scholarships, adult
programs et cetera. Aiding undocumented students in seeing their full potential
in education and chasing dreams.
·
Engaging
Undocumented Parents about Education
Approaching the undocumented parents
of students is difficult, and this guide helps educators in how to engage them
about their child’s education and the importance of education while also revealing
to them the many resources for help. Educating them on their own rights as
parents as well even while undocumented.
This resource provides educators the tools on how to speak about refugees within the classroom, what harmful language is often used when discussing refugees, lesson plans that are separated by age group, and how to introduce these concepts to classrooms of all ages.
Instructional Activity:
Preview:
Lesson goals and objectives aim for students to form personal connections to the personal memoir, Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen. In this activity, students will present to the class an item that is special to them, their identity, and/or culture. This item can be the original object, photo, or even drawing of item. In a one-paragraph reflection, students will present a passage from the text that inspired their personal item. This presentation can be open to interpretation in all creative mediums.
California Common Core Standards:
Speech and Listening
Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.
Make strategic use of digital media (e.g., textual, graphical, audio, visual, and interactive elements) in presentations to enhance understanding of findings, reasoning, and evidence and to add interest.
Writing
Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, description, reflection, and multiple plot lines, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
Instructional Plan:
Part One: Before reading Dear America, Notes of an Undocumented Citizen, the teacher will preface the importance of objects in the novel; therefore, guiding students to pay close attention to objects in the text and their significance.
Part Two: After reading the novel, the class will begin a discussion about significant objects throughout the text and their role and significance to Vargas. The goal of this activity is to be discussion led; therefore, the teacher will share a personal item that represents either their identity and/or culture. With this, students will see a visual example, which will illustrate expectations and learning goals. Students will be asked to bring their personal item, photo, or drawing to class within the following days alongside a one-paragraph reflection.
Part Three: Students will be required to provide supportive feedback per each peer's presentation. Stating what they appreciated, admired, or even related to the student and/or their item or presentation.
Resources and Preparation:
Bibliography
Gardner, Mark. “Teaching Students to Give Peer Feedback.” Edutopia, George Lucas Educational Foundation, 8 Oct. 2019, www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-students-give-peer-feedback.“JOSE ANTONIO VARGAS, Journalist, Author, and Filmmaker.” Pursuing Racial Justice Together Lecture Series, 9 Feb. 2021, www.purdue.edu/diversity-inclusion/racial-justice-series/event/jose-antonio-vargas/.
Silber, Lauren. “‘I Saw the Shame on His Face.’” Genre, vol. 51, no. 2, 2018, pp. 159–181., doi:10.1215/00166928-6899293.
Vargas, Jose Antonio. Dear America Notes of an Undocumented Citizen. HarperCollins, 2018.
Vargas, Jose Antonio [@josieiswriting]. (2018, August 3). “#WhyImHere: 25 years ago, on this very day, I arrived at this exact terminal at the Los Angeles International Airport” [Picture]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BmBasffg4Vf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Vargas, Jose Antonio [@josieiswriting]. (2018, August 3). “I never planned on having kids. I don't remember much of my childhood in the Philippines—I left when I was 12” [Picture]. Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/B2FR89UHNwF/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
