Dear America: Notes from an Undocumented Citizen by Jose Antonio Vargas

Hello my lovely readers! This was the first memoir I've read where I personally know the author. Let's get into it.

SYNOPSIS
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, called “the most famous undocumented immigrant in America,” tackles one of the defining issues of our time in this explosive and deeply personal call to arms.

“This is not a book about the politics of immigration. This book––at its core––is not about immigration at all. This book is about homelessness, not in a traditional sense, but in the unsettled, unmoored psychological state that undocumented immigrants like myself find ourselves in. This book is about lying and being forced to lie to get by; about passing as an American and as a contributing citizen; about families, keeping them together, and having to make new ones when you can’t. This book is about constantly hiding from the government and, in the process, hiding from ourselves. This book is about what it means to not have a home.

After 25 years of living illegally in a country that does not consider me one of its own, this book is the closest thing I have to freedom.”

—Jose Antonio Vargas, from Dear America

MY THOUGHTS
Before we get into my thoughts, I want to share this picture of myself and Jose three years ago while at the National Association of Black Journalists annual conference in 2022.

I'm pretty sure we met at the Asian American Journalist Association the week prior and then we happened to be at this conference as well!

We had such a great time together and had wonderful, introspective conversations. He was working on a new book about race and I'd like to think our conversations will make our way into it. Throughout all of our conversations, he never mentioned (not that I can recall) that he was an author...and a pretty big deal. So, imagine my surprise when I discovered this book last year! I finally got around to reading it and was blown away.

Jose's memoir was honest, hopeful, infuriating, sad and triumphant. I'll admit, I was unfamiliar with the plight of undocumented immigrants in this country. This book was incredibly eye-opening and I'm so glad I read it.