Jose Antonio Vargas - Dear America Notes of an Undocumented Citizen-Dey Street Books (2018 ) - Copy PDF
| Title | Jose Antonio Vargas - Dear America Notes of an Undocumented Citizen-Dey Street Books (2018 ) - Copy |
|---|---|
| Author | Alyssa Castro |
| Course | Composition 1 |
| Institution | Texas Southmost College |
| Pages | 154 |
| File Size | 999.6 KB |
| File Type | |
| Total Downloads | 16 |
| Total Views | 147 |
Summary
dear america notes of an undocumented citizen...
Description
TableofContents Cover TitlePage Dedication Epigraph Prologue NotetoReaders PartI:Lying 1:Gamblers 2:TheWrongCountry 3:CrittendenMiddleSchool 4:NotBlack,NotWhite 5:Filipinos 6:MexicanJoséandFilipinoJose 7:Fake 8:ComingOut PartII:Passing 1:PlayingaRole 2:MountainViewHighSchool 3:AnAdoptedFamily 4:BreakingtheLaw 5:TheMasterNarrative 6:Ambition 7:WhitePeople 8:TheWashingtonPost 9:Strangers 10:Bylines 11:Campaign2008 12:Purgatory 13:Thirty 14:FacingMyself 15:Lawyers 16:SecondComingOut 17:Outlaw 18:WhoAmI?
19:InsideFoxNews 20:PublicPerson,PrivateSelf 21:Progress PartIII:Hiding 1:MyGovernment,Myself 2:Home 3:DistantIntimacy 4:Leaving 5:Staying 6:Detained 7:TheMachine 8:NationalSecurityThreat 9:Alone 10:Interview 11:CycleofLoss 12:Truth Acknowledgments AbouttheAuthor Copyright AboutthePublisher
Dedication
ToMamainthePhilippines, andtoeveryAmericanwhohasmademe feelathomeintheUnitedStates Totheworld’smigrantpopulation, 258millionandcounting
Epigraph
Americaisnotalandof oneraceoroneclassofmen... Americaisnotboundby geographicallatitudes... Americaisintheheart... —CARLOSBULOSAN
Contents
Cover TitlePage Dedication Epigraph Prologue NotetoReaders PartI:Lying 1:Gamblers 2:TheWrongCountry 3:CrittendenMiddleSchool 4:NotBlack,NotWhite 5:Filipinos 6:MexicanJoséandFilipinoJose 7:Fake 8:ComingOut PartII:Passing 1:PlayingaRole 2:MountainViewHighSchool 3:AnAdoptedFamily 4:BreakingtheLaw 5:TheMasterNarrative 6:Ambition 7:WhitePeople 8:TheWashingtonPost 9:Strangers 10:Bylines 11:Campaign2008 12:Purgatory
13:Thirty 14:FacingMyself 15:Lawyers 16:SecondComingOut 17:Outlaw 18:WhoAmI? 19:InsideFoxNews 20:PublicPerson,PrivateSelf 21:Progress PartIII:Hiding 1:MyGovernment,Myself 2:Home 3:DistantIntimacy 4:Leaving 5:Staying 6:Detained 7:TheMachine 8:NationalSecurityThreat 9:Alone 10:Interview 11:CycleofLoss 12:Truth Acknowledgments AbouttheAuthor Copyright AboutthePublisher
Prologue
IdonotknowwhereIwillbewhenyoureadthisbook. AsIwritethis,asetofcreasedandfoldedpaperssitsonmydesk,tenpagesin all,issuedtomebytheDepartmentofHomelandSecurity.“WarrantforArres ofAlien,”readsthetoprightcornerofthefirstpage. ThesearemyfirstlegalAmericanpapers,thefirsttimeimmigrationofficers acknowledged my presence after arresting, detaining, then releasing me in th summer of 2014. I’ve been instructed to carry these documents with me whereverIgo. ThesepapersarewhatimmigrationlawyerscallanNTA,shortfor“Noticeto Appear.” It’s a charging document that the government can file with an immigration court to start a “removal proceeding.” I don’t know when the governmentwillfilemyNTAanddeportmefromthecountryIconsiderhome. We are living through the most anti-immigrant era in modern American history.Immigrationofanykind,legalorillegal,isunderunprecedentedattack United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, which issues green card and grants citizenship, has stopped characterizing America as “a nation o immigrants.” To a degree unmatched by previous administrations, Presiden TrumpisclosingAmerica’s doorstotheworld’s refugees,slashingthenumber ofrefugeeswhocancometotheU.S.bymorethanhalf.Theeverydayliveso “Dreamers,” young undocumented immigrants who like me arrived in the country as children, are subject to the president’s tweets. Trump conflate undocumentedimmigrantswithviolentMS-13gangmembers,referringtousas “animals” and “snakes,” often in front of boisterous crowds roaring with approval. In a blunt warning to the country’s estimated eleven million undocumented immigrants, Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, told Congress: “If you are in this country illegally, and you committeda crime by entering this country, you should be uncomfortable, you shouldlookoveryourshoulder,andyouneedtobeworried.” Homanadded:“Nopopulationisoffthetable.” A woman diagnosed with a brain tumor was picked up at a hospital in For
Worth.AfatherinLosAngeleswasarrestedinfrontofhisU.S.citizendaughter whom he was driving to school. A young woman was apprehended afte speaking at a news conference against immigration raids. A “zero tolerance” policyattheborderripsfamiliesapart,denyingasylumseekerstheirrightsunde international law. Toddlers are placed alone at “tender age” shelters, while parentsstruggletolocatetheirchildren.Everyday,tensofthousandsofpeople arejailed. Since publicly declaring my undocumented status in 2011—greeted by the likes of Bill O’Reilly as “the most famous illegal in America”—I’ve visited countless cities and towns, in forty-eight states, engaging all kinds of people MostAmericans,Idiscovered,havenoideahowtheimmigrationsystemworks what the citizenship process requires, and how difficult, if not downrigh impossible, it is for undocumented people to “get legal.” All the while undocumentedworkerslikemepay billionsintoagovernmentthatdetainsand deportsus. Butthisisnotabookaboutthepoliticsofimmigration.Thisbook—atitscore —is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but the unsettled, unmoored psychological state tha undocumented immigrants like me find ourselves in. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as contributingcitizen;about families,keepingthem togetherand havingtomake new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the governmentand,intheprocess,hidingfromourselves.Thisbookisaboutwha itmeanstonothaveahome. Aftertwenty-fiveyearsoflivingillegallyinacountrythatdoesnotconsider meoneofitsown,thisbookistheclosestthingIhavetofreedom.
NotetoReaders
Mine is only one story, one of an estimated eleven million here in the United States. In the past seven years, I’ve met several hundred undocumented immigrants from all parts of the country, who greet me at coffee shops and grocery stores, approach me while I visited college campuses and spoke a events,andcontactmethroughsocialmediaande-mail. Although the details of our stories differ, the contours of our experience are muchthesame:Lying,Passing,andHiding.
PartI
Lying
1. Gamblers Icomefromafamilyofgamblers. Andmyfuture,itturnedout,wastheirbiggestgamble. EverythingaboutthemorningIleftthePhilippineswasrushed,borderingon panic. I was barely awake when Mama snatched me from bed and hurried me intoacab.Therewasnotimetobrushmyteeth,notimetoshower. A few months prior to that morning, Mama had told me the plan: We were goingtoAmerica.Iwouldbegoingfirst,thenshewouldfollowinafewmonths maybe a year at most. Until that drive to the airport, Mama and I were inseparable. She didn’t work, because I was her work. She made sure I wa doingwellatschool.Shecookedeverymeal:usuallyafriedeggwithSpamfo breakfast and, if I was good, her special spaghetti dish with chicken liver. On weekends, she dragged me to her card games and mah-jongg games. Ou apartmentwassotinythatwesharedabed.IwasMama’sboy. ItwasstilldarkoutsidewhenIarrivedatNinoyAquinoInternationalAirport For reasons she wouldn’t explain, Mama couldn’t come inside the terminal Outside, Mama introduced me to a man she said was my uncle. In my ragtag familyofbloodrelativesandlifelongacquaintances,everyoneiseitheranuncle oranaunt. Afterhandingmeabrownjacketwitha MADE IN U.S.A. label in its collar—a ChristmasgiftfromherparentsinCalifornia,thegrandparentsIwouldsoonbe living with—Mama said matter-of-factly, “Baka malamig doon.” (“It might be cold there.”) It was the last thing I remember her saying. I don’t remembe givingherahug.Idon’tremembergivingherakiss.Therewasnotimeforany ofthat.WhatIdorememberwastheexcitementofridinginanairplaneforthe firsttime. As the Continental Airlines flight left the tarmac, I peeked outside the window. I had heard that my native Philippines, a country of over seven thousandislands,wasanarchipelago.Ididn’treallyunderstandwhatthatmean until I saw the clusters of islands down below, surrounded by water. So much water, embracing so many islands, swallowing me up as the airplane soared throughthesky. Whenever I think of the country I left, I think of water. As the years and
decadespassed,asthegulfbetweenMamaandmegrewdeeperandwider,I’v avoidedsteppingintoanybodyofwaterinthecountrythatInowcallmyhome theRioGrandeinTexas,nottoofarfromwhereIwasarrested;LakeMichigan whichtouchesWisconsin,Illinois,Indiana,andMichigan,stateswithbigcitie and small towns that I’ve visited in the past few years; and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans—I’m the person who goes to Miami and Hawaii without eve goingtothebeach. Whenpeoplethinkofbordersandwalls,theyusuallythinkofland.Ithinkof water.It’s painfultothink thatthe samewaterthat connectsusall alsodivide us,dividingMamaandme. IleftthePhilippinesonAugust1,1993. Iwastwelveyearsold.
2. TheWrongCountry IthoughtIlandedinthewrongcountry. Filipino culture is fascinated with and shaped by Hollywood movies and beautypageants.ThereweretwotelevisioneventsthatMamaandIwatchedlive everyyear:theAcademyAwardsandtheMissUniversepageant.Fromanearly age they shaped my vision of the world and of America. The America of my imaginationwastheAmericainPrettyWoman, SisterAct,and HomeAlone,the AmericaofJuliaRoberts,WhoopiGoldberg,andMacaulayCulkin.Themomen I landed at Los Angeles International Airport, I expected to see people who lookedlikeJulia,Whoopi,andMacaulay—peoplewholookedlikethepeople watchedduringtheOscars.Instead,Iwasgreetedbysomethingliketheparade ofnationsthatkickedofftheannualMissUniversepageant,witheachcontestan speakingintheirowntongue.TheAmericaIfirstencounteredattheairportwas apolyphonicculturethatlookedlikeandsoundedlikewhatabiggerworldwas supposedtolookandsoundlike. InthePhilippines,thereweretwotypesofweather:hotandreallyhot.Even when it was raining, even when typhoons knocked down trees and flooded homes,includingours,Idon’teverrememberfeelingcold.The variedweather in California—warm and sunny in the day, cool and nippy at night—required instantadjustment.Ilearnedhowtolayermyclothes,andIwasintroducedtoa thingcalledasweater.Iownedjacketsbuthadnosweaters. Thebiggeradjustmentwaslivingwithnewpeople:mygrandparents,whomI called Lolo (Grandpa) and Lola (Grandma), and my mother’s younger brother Rolan.UntilUncle Rolanmovedto theU.S. in1991,he livedwith Mamaand me. Lola had visited the Philippines twice, bringing bags of Snickers and M&M’s and giving relatives and friends money (one-dollar bills, five-dolla bills, sometimes ten-dollar bills) like she was an ATM machine. If the word “generous”weremanifestedinoneperson,itwouldbeLola.IonlyknewLolo fromphotographs,wherehewasalwaysposing:backstraight,stomachout,chin up, the posture of someone used to being watched. He posed in front of th house, in front of his red Toyota Camry, in front of some hotel in some town calledLasVegas.IwasbarelythreeyearsoldwhenLolomovedtoAmerica.By thetimeIarrivedinMountainView,California,Lolohadbecomeanaturalized
U.S. citizen. He legally changed his first name from Teofilo to Ted, after Ted DansonfromCheers. To celebratemyarrival,Lolo organizeda partythatintroduced metoall the relativesI’donlyheardaboutbutnevermet.Thereweresomanyofthemitwas likewehadourownlittlevillage.AmongtheattendeeswereFlorie,Rosie,and David—Lolo’s siblings, whom I was instructed to call “Lolo” and “Lola” as a sign of respect. Filipinos like honorifics. Everyone older than you is either a kuya(ifhe’smale)oran ate(ifshe’sfemale).UnlesstheyareaLolooraLola you call them Uncle or Auntie, even when you’re not actually related. Lola Florie,inparticular,commandedrespect.LolaFlorie,whoworkedinelectronics and Lolo Bernie, her husband, who served as a U.S. Marine, owned the hous that we were living in. Theirtwo American-born sons, Kuya Bernie and Kuya Gilbert,spokeverylittleTagalog,yetstillmanagedtoinstantlywelcomemeinto thefamily.LolaFloriewasthematriarchofthematriarchsinthefamily;shewas thereason herolder brotherTedand her youngersister Rosiehad been ableto cometoAmerica.LolaRosie,theloudestandfriendliestofmyextendedfamily announcedthatUncle Conradhaddriven sevenhoursjust toseeme inperson Uncle Conrad was a legend in our family, having escaped a life of harvesting riceanddoingconstructionworkinthePhilippinestobecominganofficerinthe UnitedStatesNavy,apointofprideforallofus.Standingnotallerthanfivefoo three inches and speaking English with a gravelly, guttural Tagalog accent UncleConradwasinchargeof92enlistedpersonnel.HewasLolo’sfavorite. “Masayangmasayanakaminananditokana,”UncleConradsaidinfronto theentirefamilyasLololookedon.“Weareveryhappyyouarehere.” To Lolo, America was something you wear, something you buy, something you eat, and he wanted to spoil his first and only grandson—me. It wa consumption all around. In the Philippines, I got to eat ice cream only on my birthday, sometimes during Christmas dinner, and to ring in the New Year. don’tthinkI’dconsumedasmuchicecreaminmyentirelifeasIdidinmyfirs few weeks and months in America. To welcome me to my new home, Lolo’ wayofshowinghisloveformeandshowingoffAmericawasbuyingatubo Neapolitan ice cream (vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate flavors, all rolled into one)for$5.99.Imusthaveeatenatubaweek. AnotherwaythatLoloshowedhisaffectionwasbyprintingmyname,usinga bold,blackSharpie,oneverypieceofclothingIwore,mostofwhichweretheT shirts, shorts, pants, and underwear that Lolo and Lola had purchased before evenarrived. “Akoangnagdalasaiyodito,”Lolotoldmeonthedayhesignedmeupfor school. “I brought you here.” He said itin a voice that emanated pure joy and
familialownership. Ididn’thavearelationshipwithmyfather;Isawhimnomorethanfivetimes inmywholelife.ShortlyafterIarrivedinMountainView,itwasclearthatLolo wouldbecomethefatherfigureIneverhad.
3. CrittendenMiddleSchool “Oh,Jose,canyousee?” During my first weeks at my first American school, surrounded by my firs American friends, I imagined my name was somehow in the national anthem flashing a big smile whenever the whole class would sing “The Star-Spangled Banner.” “Hey,” whispered my classmate Sharmand one morning when he caught me smilingwhile singing. “We’re not talking about you.” Sharmand sighed before saying,“Theanthemgoes,‘Oh,say,canyousee.’Yousee?” TosaythatIstoodoutatCrittendenMiddleSchoolisanunderstatement. I wasn’t fluent in English, and I stood out for my thick Tagalog accent Tagalog, my native tongue, was not what anyone would describe as a sof language, at least not the way I speak it. My Tagalog was all hard consonant andchoppedsyllableswithaquick,rat-a-tat-tatsound,likethesoundoftropica rainpouringdownoncement.Also,theTagalogalphabetdoesnothave“h”and “th” sounds, which meant I struggled pronouncing a very common word like “the.”So“the”inEnglishsoundslike“da”inTagalog,andwheneverIsaid“da insteadof“the,”Istoodout.Onemorning,whenMrs.Mitchell,thehomeroom teacher, asked me to read a passage from a book out loud during class, my classmatesgiggledwhenIsaid“o-tor”insteadof“au-thor.” IstoodoutbecauseofeverythingIdidnotknow. Ididn’tknowwhatkindoffoodwasappropriatetobringforlunch.Iwasthe student who brought sticky rice and fried tilapia with a sauce while my classmates munched on food I’d never heard of, like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.“What’sthatnastysmell?”myclassmateSharonasked.“It’scalled patis,”Isaid.Fishsauce. Ididn’tknowhowtoplaysportslikeflagfootball.TheonetimeIdidagreeto play,Irushedtothewrongsideofthefieldwiththefootballinhandwhilemy classmates,led by Sharmand,screamed, “You’re goingthe wrong way! You’re goingthewrongway!” I didn’tknow what not to talk about. When asked to talk about my favorite pet,IspokeaboutmydogRambo,theonlypetIeverhad.Itoldmyclassmate thatRambowasnamedaftertheSylvesterStallonemovieseries,andIsaidtha
the last time I saw Rambo was hours before Mama’s birthday dinner, before Rambowaskilled,adoboed(thepopularFilipinoversionofstew),andservedas pulutan—anappetizer.Myclassmatesweremortified.Acoupleofthemstarted to cry. I later explained that, in the Philippines, dogs can serve as pets and pulutan.(And,no,IdidnottakeabiteofRambo.Iwastoodistraught.)When was growing up in Pasig, part of the capital city of Manila, whose poverty ridden slums house four million people, dogs and cats were fed what wa consideredleftoverfood—whateverwasleftfromlunchordinner,usuallyrice bones from chicken, pork, or fish, skins from mangoes, bananas, guavas. I’d neverheardof“petfood,”neversawanaisleinagrocerystorededicatedtofood specifically for cats and dogs. One of my earliest memories in America wa walkingupanddownthepetfoodaisleatSafeway,sotransfixedandbewildered thatIstoppedoneoftheclerks.“Why doesthedogfoodandthe catfoodcos more money than the people food?” I asked. The clerk answered with a long hardglare. Americawaslikeaclasssubject I’dnevertaken,andthere wastoomuchto learn,toomuchtostudy,toomuchtomakesenseof. AndIwasexcitedtoshareeverythingwithMama.Long-distancephonecalls were expensive. If I was lucky, I could talk to Mama once a week. Writing letters, first in longhand and later using computers at school, was cheaper WritingletterstoMamawasalsoawaytosootheusboth,toeasethepainofou separation before we were reunited again. She was supposed to have followed me to America by now, but there was a delay in her paperwork. I had to wai somemore. OnthefirsttypewrittenletterIsentMama,writteninmysixteenthmonthof livinginAmerica,Iwrote: What’sup!Howareyouguysdoin’?Ihop...
Similar Free PDFs
Paciente jose antonio adulto
- 4 Pages
Ensayo de Antonio Jose de Sucre
- 5 Pages
Babilonia Perez Elias Jose 2018
- 71 Pages
Heart-of-Darkness - books
- 88 Pages
The Undocumented Americans
- 3 Pages
Dear Class of 2020 Students
- 1 Pages
Copy of Chapter 11 Notes
- 20 Pages
L329 4:21 Living Undocumented
- 4 Pages
Popular Institutions
- Tinajero National High School - Annex
- Politeknik Caltex Riau
- Yokohama City University
- SGT University
- University of Al-Qadisiyah
- Divine Word College of Vigan
- Techniek College Rotterdam
- Universidade de Santiago
- Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Johor Kampus Pasir Gudang
- Poltekkes Kemenkes Yogyakarta
- Baguio City National High School
- Colegio san marcos
- preparatoria uno
- Centro de Bachillerato Tecnológico Industrial y de Servicios No. 107
- Dalian Maritime University
- Quang Trung Secondary School
- Colegio Tecnológico en Informática
- Corporación Regional de Educación Superior
- Grupo CEDVA
- Dar Al Uloom University
- Centro de Estudios Preuniversitarios de la Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería
- 上智大学
- Aakash International School, Nuna Majara
- San Felipe Neri Catholic School
- Kang Chiao International School - New Taipei City
- Misamis Occidental National High School
- Institución Educativa Escuela Normal Juan Ladrilleros
- Kolehiyo ng Pantukan
- Batanes State College
- Instituto Continental
- Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan Kesehatan Kaltara (Tarakan)
- Colegio de La Inmaculada Concepcion - Cebu