Analysis Of Jose Antonio Vargas's 'Outlaw'

Getting through high school, getting a license, getting into college, and getting a job are all extremely intimidating parts of every young adult’s life, but it is hard to imagine doing all these things illegally with the fear that at any moment everything could come crashing down. In Jose Antonio Vargas’s article, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, Vargas explains his take on the struggles of being a gay, illegal immigrant trying to achieve the American Dream. Throughout the article, Vargas tells his story and really makes the reader feel sympathy for his fight and his strength. He does a very good job keeping the readers drawn in as well as appealing to pathos and ethos.

There are millions of undocumented immigrants living here in America. Jose Antonio Vargas is one of them. Because Vargas’s family sent him here at age 12 with fake documents, there is nothing he can do about his illegal status if he wants to stay. After finding out his papers were fake, he has looked for a path to citizenship but has found no viable solution. My evaluation is while he is not legally an American, he pays taxes, grew up in the School System, and has completely immersed himself into our culture with a love for the country. By definition, then, he is an American.

Jose Vargas tells the story of his life; from coming to America, finding out that he is residing here illegally, learning how to live with that, and finally to sharing with everyone that he is an undocumented immigrant. Jose has a difficult task in front of him, though. He must win his audience over to his side so that he can further his agenda of developing an easier path for undocumented immigrants to receive citizenship. There are many ways he could go about this, trying to skirt the topic of his illegal activities, but Jose is an intelligent man and knows how to influence his audience. He uses the story of his life to connect with others, and in connecting with them wins them over, even if only indeterminably so. In My Life as an

Despite Hispanics owning land dating back to the 1500s, hey are wrongfully snubbed by white settlers. Courts would refuse to recognize the Hispanics claims, and masses migrated to barrios, or Hispanic ghettos. They were created by lively communities who were determined to keep tradition strong. “The country was full of lawless and desperate men, who bore the name of Americans but failed to support the honor and dignity of that title.” (“The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta” page 233 American Studies.) The Americans were desperate to continue finding ways to earn money, and the article argues they do not deserve the title they have. For that reason, they’re wreaking havoc on other cultures and other properties and other people. The Hispanics were unfortunately crowded into barrios as they attempt to keep their tradition high. However, it is tragic how these people lost what was once theirs, because the Americans wanted to get their hands on anything that would help push the agenda of the American dream. Segwaying into individual stories of oppression is Joaquin Murieta. He was a rather interesting character from the province of Sonora in Mexico. What is rather odd is the difference from when he was growing up, and fast-forwarding to him residing in California, as he was known to be generous and mild, not “evil” and “barbaric.” Following the Mexican War was

Richards essay describes how he has to “ trade” his Spanish language identity to find his “public” language identity . He remembers his parents trying their best to speak more English in their home to help their kids fit into society . He talks about how the fact that he lost one identity was worth the gain of the other identity he so longed for . “At last, seven years old, I came to believe what had been technically true since my birth: I was an American citizen” (454-455). It was at that moment that he knew for a fact that his whole life he was already an American citizen . To him beign an American citizen meant having an English language identity and being able to speak the public language. As a boy Rodriguez was able to only speak and understand the Spanish language . To him it was the only real identity he ever had growing up . He also discussed that because the Spanish language identity is developed among his family members. That the language is somehow responsible for how they were able to identify themselves

In 2012, the immigrant born population was around 40.7 million people in the United States. Even though we initially came to this land as immigrants from mainly the European countries, we are still very protective of our country. Americans have this greediness when it comes to having our own land and not sharing it. Remembering back to when Americans first came to this region of the world, we kicked out the true natives and made this land our own for our safekeeping. Hundreds of years later, we still have the same mentality of keeping The United States away from others who were not there in the first place to take it over. Jones-Correa and Mendoza both address the issue of letting in immigrants and whether it could benefit our society or not. They

Even though Vargas knew what he was doing was wrong, he convinced himself that if he lived up to the qualities of a citizen he would be o.k. (Vargas 7). Vargas talks about when he returned to Washington he told one of the higher ups, Peter, about his secret. Peter told him to keep doing what he’s doing and once he has accomplished enough they will tell the chairman. Vargas eventually leaves the paper and moves to New York to join The Huffington Post. Vargas talks about his successes of working for The Huffington Post but ended up leaving because he couldn’t take the guilt and the lies he was telling himself and friends about his problem of being illegal. Vargas ends his article by explaining why he finally admitted to being an illegal immigrant and how he feels now after he has admitted to it.

The one thing that stood out to me in this article was when Javier stated, “He worn a walkie-talkie then in his role as a manager, and it was his job to call everyone back to the line at the end of each break. He had never felt more a part of America than he did in these moments, hearing his own voice over the factory loudspeakers, issuing orders in English.” The reason why this statement stood out to me is because for Javier it seems like his past life was that, and for once, he tasted his piece of the American pie. However, the one thing that made Javier dream false was his status in the United States. Therefore, some of the pros and cons of immigration reform in the U.S... In the case of Javier,

The Harvard Kennedy School educated man was the head of the mayoral campaign in Venezuela and an activist in the opposition party. When the military started asking him questions about his signature gathering, it soon became clear there was a political issue at hand. "They proceeded to threaten to torture us if we didn't speak,” Marquez told NPR. He spent the next four months in a Venezuela prison, only released due to diplomatic pressure (sdfsd). Marquez is just one of many who have been imprisoned for peaceful activism. In his case, it was a protected right in Venezuela, but not even that was respected by the government. Marquez was lucky; his dual nationality helped him escape an unjust situation. But there are thousands of others who will spend years in prison for leading an activist

The Ramirez family falls into the trend of ecuadorian immigrants history in the United States, because they part of the group of immigrants who migrated to the U.S for economic purposes and also for better opportunities. Many immigrants were incorporated in the third wave. Miguel and Fabiola Ramirez were part of this wave, which is the last (from 1965 to the present), because they migrated to the U.S. when there was an increasing growth of ecuadorians immigrants who came during the same time they immigrated. The reason of this phenomenon is because “...between 1986 and 1996, under the provisions of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), nearly illegally went through the complex process 15,000 Ecuadorians who had entered illegally went through the complex process of legalization and became United States citizens.” To refer to the interview; Miguel also commented about how they had to

With Vargas’s announcement it brought him many people who had their opinion to speak. Vargas finally having enough of his fear of being found out went out in public and revealed he was an undocumented immigrant. He tries to explain his reason when he states, “But the deception weighed on me. When I eventually decided to admit the truth, I chose to come out publicly.” Vargas was trying to ease his guilt by telling everybody he was an illegal citizen. He

Americans are encouraged to leave home and become their own man (Rodriguez 257). Americans talk about Hispanics and their impatience that they don’t give up their family (Rodriguez 261). For each one of his claims he tells a mini story about each one. I can see why he made these claims and how they are relevant today.

This event seems to be important because Undocumented movement is something very important these days and I cherished the appeal that this book gave for that experience. It's so difficult to consume everything that is happening while its being taken away from you. I realize that the subject must've been truly difficult for Guerrero to discuss. Although I seem to believe how useful it is to hear stories like this with the goal that more people can understand that this is something real and that is happening to individuals out there.

Part one of the Holmes novel, Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies: Migrant Farm Workers in the United States, primarily focused on Holmes’s initial integration into the life of an illegal immigrant. Holmes used participant observation to learn and understand the intricate issues of immigration and the social inequalities that disrupted so many lives. Throughout the reading, I was captivated by his story depicting his personal struggles and his first-hand account of living through the same hardships as immigrants. To this day I have been perplexed by the idea that the blatant inequalities of the past were so easily ignored, all the while being completely ignorant to many inequalities that are still prevalent today. My epiphany came whilst reading the

It has come to my attention that, per recent developments, the Sentinel is now faced with an ethical dilemma of sorts. Former staff member and immigration reporter Jorge Lopez, who is now coming to the company on freelance, has pitched a story detailing his life in the United States as an undocumented immigrant. This issue affects not just the Sentinel and its editors, but also our print and online audiences, and our stakeholders. The decisions made on this particular issue must keep these parties in mind.