Neenah Public Library

Dear America, notes of an undocumented citizen, Jose Antonio Vargas

eng

autobiography

no index present

non fiction

Dear America

1016951473

Jose Antonio Vargas

notes of an undocumented citizen

"My name is Jose Antonio Vargas. I was born in the Philippines. When I was twelve, my mother sent me to the United States to live with her parents. While applying for a driver's permit, I found out my papers were fake. More than two decades later, I am still here illegally, with no clear path to American citizenship. To some people, I am the "most famous illegal" in America. In my mind, I am only one of an estimated 11 million human beings whose uncertain fate is under threat in a country I call my home. 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 about the unsettled, unmoored psychological state in which undocumented immigrants like me find ourselves. 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 what it means to not have a home."--Dust jacket

Part I: Lying. Gamblers ; The wrong country ; Crittenden Middle School ; Not black, not white ; Filipinos ; Mexican José and Filipino Jose ; Fake ; Coming out -- Part II: Passing. 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 -- Part III: Hiding. My government, myself ; Home ; Distant intimacy ; Leaving ; Staying ; Detained ; The machine ; National security threat ; Alone ; Interview ; Cycle of loss ; Truth