Dear America notes of an undocumented citizen

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Summary

"The movement of people--what Americans call 'immigration' and the rest of the world calls 'migration'--is among the defining issues of our time. Technology and information crosses countries and continents at blistering speed. Corporations thrive on being multinational and polyglot. Yet the world's estimated 244 million total migrant population, particularly those deemed 'illegal' by countries and societies, are locked in a chaotic and circular debate about borders and documents, assimilation and identity. An issue about movement seems immovable: politically, culturally and personally. Dear America: Notes Of An Undocumented Citizen is an urgent, provocative and deeply personal account from Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who happens to be the most well-known undocumented immigrant in the United States. Born in the Philippines and brought to the U.S. illegally as a 12-year-old, Vargas hid in plain-sight for years, writing for some of the most prestigious news organizations in the country (The Washington Post, The New Yorker) while lying about where he came from and how he got here. After publicly admitting his undocumented status--risking his career and personal safety--Vargas has challenged the definition of what it means to be an American, and has advocated for the human rights of immigrants and migrants during the largest global movement of people in modern history. Both a letter to America and a window into Vargas's America, this book is a transformative argument about migration and citizenship, and an intimate, searing exploration on what it means to be home when the country you call your home doesn't consider you one of its own"--

Contents

Gamblers
The wrong country
Crittenden Middle School
Not black, not white
Filipinos
Mexican Jose and Filipino Jose
Fake
Coming out
Playing a role
Mountain View High School
An adopted family
Breaking the law
The master narrative
Ambition
White people
The Washington Post
Strangers
Bylines
Campaign 2008
Purgatory
Thirty
Facing myself
Lawyers
Second coming out
Outlaw
Who am I?
Inside Fox News
Public person, private self
Progress
My government, myself
Home
Distant intimacy
Leaving
Staying
Detained
The machine
National security threat
Alone
Interview
Cycle of loss
Truth.

Published Reviews

Booklist Review: "*Starred Review* At the age of 12, Vargas was brought to the U.S. from the Philippines without papers, assisted by a "coyote," a term a Border Patrol agent explains to him as he is detained as an adult in McAllen, Texas. In this excruciatingly timely memoir, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Vargas implements his strategy of radical transparency, purposefully laying out his undocumented status for the world to see. Although this book mimics a straightforward memoir, it is couched in questions vital for every reader's consideration: Who "deserves" citizenship? Why is migration considered historically courageous for white people but a crime for people of color? Like a cracked mirror, Vargas' story is splintered through a myriad of selves son, journalist, gay man, undocumented resident, advocate each sliver burnished by education and inspiration, courtesy in large part of the local library, where he soaks up American culture from E. L. Doctorow to Toni Morrison, becoming an American in every sense but the legal one. Vargas' frank and fearless voice thoughtfully and intentionally challenges readers to confront the call for action at the heart of this book: the urgent need for "a new language around migration and the meaning of citizenship."--Sara Martinez Copyright 2018 Booklist"
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

Additional Information

Subjects	Vargas, Jose Antonio Journalists United States Biography Motion picture producers and directors United States Biography Noncitizens United States Biography Biography & Autobiography Sociology Nonfiction Politics Electronic books. Autobiographies.
Publisher	[Place of publication not identified] :HarperCollins,2018 HarperCollins2018
Edition	First edition.
Contributors	OverDrive, Inc.
Language	English
System Details	Mode of access: World Wide Web. Format: Adobe EPUB eBook Format: Kindle Book Format: OverDrive Read Requires Adobe Digital Editions or Amazon Kindle
Description	1 online resource
ISBN	9780062851369 9780062851369
Other	Classic View