The journalist and immigration-rights activist presents a memoir relating how he was sent from the Philippines to the U.S. as a child, his discovery of his undocumented status as a teenager, and his decision to reveal his immigration status publicly in 2011. - (Baker & Taylor)
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker and immigration-rights activist presents a debut memoir about how he unknowingly entered the United States with false documents as a child. 150,000 first printing. - (Baker & Taylor)
"The movement of people--what Americans call 'immigration' and the rest of the world calls 'migration'--is among the defining issues of our time. Technology and information crosses countries and continents at blistering speed. Corporations thrive on being multinational and polyglot. Yet the world's estimated 244 million total migrant population, particularly those deemed 'illegal' by countries and societies, are locked in a chaotic and circular debate about borders and documents, assimilation and identity. An issue about movement seems immovable: politically, culturally and personally. Dear America: Notes Of An Undocumented Citizen is an urgent, provocative and deeply personal account from Jose Antonio Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who happens to be the most well-known undocumented immigrant in the United States. Born in the Philippines and brought to the U.S. illegally as a 12-year-old, Vargas hid in plain-sight for years, writing for some of the most prestigious news organizations in the country (The Washington Post, The New Yorker) while lying about where he came from and how he got here. After publicly admitting his undocumented status--risking his career and personal safety--Vargas has challenged the definition of what it means to be an American, and has advocated for the human rights of immigrants and migrants during the largest global movement of people in modern history. Both a letter to America and a window into Vargas's America, this book is a transformative argument about migration and citizenship, and an intimate, searing exploration on what it means to be home when the country you call your home doesn't consider you one of its own"-- - (Baker & Taylor)
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER
'this riveting, courageous memoir ought to be mandatory reading for every American.' 'Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
'l cried reading this book, realizing more fully what my parents endured.' 'Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins
'this book couldn't be more timely and more necessary.' 'Dave Eggers, New York Times bestselling author of What Is the What and The Monk of Mokha
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
- (
HARPERCOLL)
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“This riveting, courageous memoir ought to be mandatory reading for every American.” —Michelle Alexander, New York Times bestselling author of The New Jim Crow
“l cried reading this book, realizing more fully what my parents endured.” —Amy Tan, New York Times bestselling author of The Joy Luck Club and Where the Past Begins
“This book couldn’t be more timely and more necessary.” —Dave Eggers, New York Times bestselling author of What Is the What and The Monk of Mokha
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
- (
HARPERCOLL)
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.
- (
HARPERCOLL)
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.
- (
HARPERCOLL)
Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* At the age of 12, Vargas was brought to the U.S. from the Philippines without papers, assisted by a coyote, a term a Border Patrol agent explains to him as he is detained as an adult in McAllen, Texas. In this excruciatingly timely memoir, Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Vargas implements his strategy of radical transparency, purposefully laying out his undocumented status for the world to see. Although this book mimics a straightforward memoir, it is couched in questions vital for every reader's consideration: Who deserves citizenship? Why is migration considered historically courageous for white people but a crime for people of color? Like a cracked mirror, Vargas' story is splintered through a myriad of selves—son, journalist, gay man, undocumented resident, advocate—each sliver burnished by education and inspiration, courtesy in large part of the local library, where he soaks up American culture from E. L. Doctorow to Toni Morrison, becoming an American in every sense but the legal one. Vargas' frank and fearless voice thoughtfully and intentionally challenges readers to confront the call for action at the heart of this book: the urgent need for a new language around migration and the meaning of citizenship. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
Library Journal Reviews
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, and founder and CEO of the nonprofit media advocacy organization Define American, Vargas is among America's best-known undocumented immigrants, having come here illegally at age 12 from the Philippines. Since he acknowledged his status, he has advocated for migrant and immigrant rights worldwide; here, he considers what it means to be American and how it feels when you are considered alien in your own home. With a 150,000-copy first printing.
Copyright 2018 Library Journal.
Library Journal Reviews
When Vargas (founder, DefineAmerican.com) was 12, he was brought from his home in the Philippines to California to live with his grandparents. With the help of his community, he succeeded in school and went on to become a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Yet his undocumented status weighed heavily, as he constantly had to lie in order to move through life. Eventually, Vargas went public about his status and founded Define American, an immigrant advocacy organization. Through a series of short essays, he meditates on the difficulty of reconciling his Filipino and American identities, race, the role of journalism and media in the immigration debate, the challenges of living as an undocumented public figure, and the harshness of current immigration policy. He intersperses facts about immigration throughout and argues that immigrants deserve to be a formal part of America. VERDICT A thought-provoking, moving, and highly personal memoir of Vargas's struggle to belong. Recommended for all readers interested in immigration issues and American identity.—Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Copyright 2018 Library Journal.