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Dear America: Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

Jose Antonio Vargas

Start date: February 16, 2021

Finish date: February 16, 2021

Discussion: Monthly Group Reads

Why we're reading this: Immigration Status is the diversity topic we will cover in February

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Dear America Notes of an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

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What Members Thought

Jan 10, 2021 Colleen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: talk-books, lakeville-book-club

A very nice, readable story documenting an experience of a man who has been here for 25 years. Brought to America as a child from the Philippines, with no say in what is transpiring, he has had to struggle to live with no legal documents to support his right to drive, work, etc. Nevertheless, he has managed to fulfill his dream as a journalist and bring to light some of the issues and educate others to help address this very real situation and barriers which clearly needs improvement.

The master ...more

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Mar 14, 2022 Radwa rated it really liked it

Shelves: e-books, adult, non-fiction, biography-memoir, social-political

English review below.

هذا الكتاب لإتح عيني على حقائق كتيرة وقراءة عاطفية إلى حد ما.
إنها قصة خوسيه ، وهو فلبيني ذهب إلى الولايات المتحدة في سن الثانية عشرة ، على افتراض أنه وصل هناك بشكل قانوني ليعيش مع أجداده تاركين والدته ، لكنه سرعان ما أدرك أنه أحد "المهاجرين غير الشرعيين" في البلاد ، على الرغم من أن أجداده مهاجرون قانونيون.

يكشف عن سخافة نظام الهجرة في الولايات المتحدة ، وحياته في الاختباء على مرأى من الجميع ، والفرص التي فوتها والحياة التي صنعها والأشياء التي ضحى بها طوال سنوات طويلة بصفته مو English review below.

هذا الكتاب لإتح عيني على حقائق كتيرة وقراءة عاطفية إلى حد ما.
إنها قصة خوسيه ، وهو فلبيني ذهب إلى الولايات المتحدة في سن الثانية عشرة ، على افتراض أنه وصل هناك بشكل قانوني ليعيش مع أجداده تاركين والدته ، لكنه سرعان ما أدرك أنه أحد "المهاجرين غير الشرعيين" في البلاد ، على الرغم من أن أجداده مهاجرون قانونيون.

يكشف عن سخافة نظام الهجرة في الولايات المتحدة ، وحياته في الاختباء على مرأى من الجميع ، والفرص التي فوتها والحياة التي صنعها والأشياء التي ضحى بها طوال سنوات طويلة بصفته مواطن غير موثق في أمريكا. فيه الكثير من المعلومات التي لم أكن أعرفها عن أنظمة الولايات المتحدة ، والقوانين الغريبة التي تفرضها ، ومعضلة عدم القدرة على التكيف أو الخروج.

إنه مراسل وصحفي وهذه هي الطريقة التي يكتب بها حياته ، ويظهر ذلك في كتابة هذا الكتاب ، على الرغم من إن بعض الفصول شعرت بالتكرار ، أو كانت تحتوي على نفس المعلومات بنفس الطريقة ، لكنها كتبت بشكل جيد ، مع فصول قصيرة وسرد عاطفي حقًا. إنه كاتب جيد لدرجة أنني نسيت خلال النصف الأول أنني كنت أقرأ مذكرات ، حيث شعرت وكأنها رواية جيدة حقًا بسرد قوي.

أعتقد أنها قراءة مهمة لفهم المهاجرين ومحاولات التوثيق في أمريكا والحصول على الجنسية.

This book is a real eye-opener and quite an emotional read.
It's the story of Jose, a fillipino who went to the US at the age of 12, assuming he got there legally to live with his grandparents leaving his mother behind, but he quickly realises that he's one of the "illegals" in the country, even though his grandparents are legal immigrants.

He uncovers the ridicloussness of immigration system in the USA, his life in hiding in plain sight, the opportunities he missed and the life he made up and the things he sacrificied living for long years as undocumented in America. It has a lot of information I didn't know about the US systems, the weird laws they impose, and the dillemma of not even being able to fit in or get out.

He's a reporter and that's the yway he bult up his life, and it shows in writing this book, though I'd say that some chapter felt repetitive, or had the same info in the same way, but it written well, with short chapters and really emotional narrative. He's such a good writer that during the first half, I forgot I was reading a memoir, as it felt like a really good novel with a powerful narrative.

I think it's an important read for understanding immigrants and documentation in America. ...more

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Mar 26, 2021 Jeanne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2021, read-around-the-world, memoir-biography, politics, asia-asia-american, immigration

I do not know where I will be when you read this book. (p. 2)

When I was in college, I didn't know anyone who identified as gay or trans. I didn't know anyone with a chronic physical or mental illness. Obviously, I do now, partly because I am a different person, but also because the world is more open to talking about a range of identities. We no longer believe that all women should wear pearls and heels to make dinner (e.g., Leave It to Beaver) or that all men wear suits and carry briefcases – u ...more

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Mar 19, 2021 Lisa rated it really liked it

Interested in the issue of immigration, I was eager to read this book. After all, we are all immigrants unless our families are indigenous native Americans. I was certainly not disappointed to read Jose Antonio Vargas' book.

When he was 12 years old, Jose Antonio Vargas was put on a plane from the Philipines to go to live with his grandparents in California. When he was 16, after unsuccessfully applying for a driver's license, he learned that he was living in the United States without any docume ...more

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Jan 23, 2021 Hulttio rated it it was ok

This autobiography/memoir from Jose Antonio Vargas was an interesting and informative read. While certain parts were quite enjoyable, others were hard to feel emotionally attached to. Vargas does a great job of sketching out his early childhood and some of his formative experiences, but he does not delve too deeply into the relationships he has with his family and mentors, beyond a surface level. His process of learning that he was undocumented and his subsequent career were interesting, but the This autobiography/memoir from Jose Antonio Vargas was an interesting and informative read. While certain parts were quite enjoyable, others were hard to feel emotionally attached to. Vargas does a great job of sketching out his early childhood and some of his formative experiences, but he does not delve too deeply into the relationships he has with his family and mentors, beyond a surface level. His process of learning that he was undocumented and his subsequent career were interesting, but there were some stylistic and writing errors (several distinct instances of phrases being repeated word-for-word, sometimes in the following sentence). The first part of the book had a lot of potential, with Vargas's examination of events that probably are not too easy to remember, as well as his process of coming to understand the United States. Yet again, I would have liked to see him dive deeper into some of these issues of assimilation and homelessness. Vargas seemed evasive in his own memoir, with the latter going into more statistics and numbers on being undocumented (which was certainly interesting and worth knowing).

The vignettes/episodic style of the book did not help the weak narrative links. Though it was mostly chronological, the beginning felt more focused about Vargas's reflections on his life, and the latter became more a fact-dispensing chronology of his career, along with some facts. I appreciated the facts, but it seemed to be a weird tonal shift. I like that the book is trying to portray his experience as an undocumented immigrant, but he even admits that he is good at reporting, less so at writing. The latter half also delved into some criticisms that have been leveled against Vargas, and it seemed to get a bit defensive on his part... I understand again why he showed the reader these events, but it felt a bit out of place. Overall, it was a decent read, but I felt a bit like he was preaching to the choir; those who are seriously anti-immigration are not likely to pick up this book and read the facts, let alone about his life. So I would have liked to get a greater sense of his emotional turmoil. Vargas hints at his isolation and his inability to open up to others -- but does not take the reader deeper than that, as if afraid to disclose too much vulnerability in the book. I understand feeling that way, but in a memoir type book, it left me wanting to know a bit more about him.

I would recommend reading if you are not an immigrant and have taken your citizenship for granted, particularly in the US; or even if you are a foreigner who has no idea how insane the immigration process in the US is, and why there is such a big issue of it. I was sympathetic to Vargas's early childhood, but the overall book did not provide me as strong a connection. I am curious to see Vargas's documentary, White People, because he hints at some of the tensions in the book and it made me curious. The book certainly highlights the incredulously difficulties of being undocumented in the US, and it is a valuable contribution; but as a memoir, a book about Vargas himself, I am not sure it is as reflective as I was anticipating. Being an immigrant, I was able to sympathize with some of his struggles of belonging (especially with his discussions of binary black/white America), but overall I would have liked to hear more from him. ...more

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Oct 08, 2022 Joanne rated it really liked it

Vargas will help readers understand the complicated process of becoming a US citizen and the plight of the ‘dreamers’-the children of refugees or immigrants legal or otherwise who arrived in US before turning 16.

Too often ‘illegal’ immigrants are criminalized and painted with broad bigoted stripes (not mentioning any names 🫤) simplifying their plight into literal black and white strokes and binary right/wrong arguments. As Vargas discovered and tried to endlessly explain, the process is far mor ...more

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Apr 20, 2021 Judy Lindow rated it liked it

A moving and candid memoir that will be an eye opener to many. Whether you are reading to get insight into the system, a little history, how and why people migrate, how heart wrenching it can ... you will above all discover, just the tip of the ice-berg, how complex and important immigration issues are. With climate change, resource depletion (like water), poverty/and undocumented joblessness increasing exponentially with the reset, tracking and surrveillance ramping up, and failing states - imm ...more

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