The Face of the Undocumented Immigrant
How do you bring to life the story of people who have been hidden and silent? It was the story that Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, wanted to tell. At the spring Chambers Lecture Series, Vargas spoke about the plight of the undocumented immigrant in America. He began by recalling the question he asked himself in 2011, how can one be a journalist committed to writing about the truth when you are living your life as a fraud? In an essay for the听New York Times Magazine, Vargas outed himself as an undocumented immigrant living in the United States in an effort to promote and advocate for the DREAM Act, which gives undocumented children a pathway to US citizenship. Vargas was sent by his mother in the Philippines to live with his grandparents in the US when he was 12 years old. He did not know he was undocumented until he went to the DMV to apply for his learner鈥檚 permit at 16. In a cruel twist of fate, one year after the听Times听piece, the Obama administration announced the halt of deportation of children under 30 - Vargas had just turned 31.
Vargas argued that one must earn citizenship. It is something he has been working toward since his arrival in the US 23 years ago. He studied hard, worked harder, paid taxes, and focused on being a good contributor to society. He quoted a staggering statistic that undocumented immigrants contribute $100 billion into the social security fund, a fund from which they will never benefit. Vargas mused about the irony that American companies cannot legally employ undocumented workers but undocumented people can own businesses and employ Americans. In this regard, he referred to his digital platform company, Define American,听that currently employs 11 people. 鈥淲e are job creators,鈥� he said, 鈥渨e hire people and pay taxes.鈥� Vargas said he longs for the day that he is able to vote in an American election, and expressed disappointment about the US citizens who do not exercise that basic privilege.
Vargas believes in 鈥減aying it forward.鈥� When applying to college, he was not eligible for financial aid, and a benefactor who had heard his story funded his four years at San Francisco State University. Today, Vargas is returning that generosity by providing scholarships to other undocumented students. There is no doubt that this is a considerable contribution on the quest to 鈥渆arning鈥� his citizenship. He ended his talk with a question for the audience to ponder: 鈥淲hat are you doing to earn your citizenship?鈥�
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