Dear America

Notes of an Undocumented Citizen

By: Jose Antonio Vargas

Narrated by: Jose Antonio Vargas

Length: 5 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, called “[T]he 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)

©2018 Undocumented LLC (P)2018 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Vargas's performance of his memoir is sincere, intelligent, and thoughtful.... Vargas exhibits passion and composure even as critics exhort him to 'get in line' to become a citizen - though no such path exists from his current status." (AudioFile)

Read it for class

I had to read this for class and I was pleasantly surprised. A really authentic story where he not only addresses his points of view but the opinions of others and answers questions you also have in your mind

pretty pretty good

so this book was nice I liked the story and it gave me a real perspective on an issue.

amazing

This is an amazing book about a real story of immigration. As an American born citizen, it helped me understand more about the processes that govern our immigration system. The story is honest, heartfelt, and personal in an offensive style. Highly recommend.

Everyone Should Read This Book

This is one gutsy guy to get out there and do all the things he did while looking over his shoulder. He is very brave. He seemed to be backed into a corner believing that he was here legally and then finding out that he was not legal after spending so many years here.
Enlightening book. A little sad.

Honest and bold!

Very well written! Honest, bold, sad, and challenges us to change our own thinking and understanding of the immigration system with facts. We need to help change the master narrative and continue to advocate for the least among us! Love this book and as a teacher I can’t wait to read this book with my class!!

So good - never boring. Educational and relatable.

I don't think I'd ever gotten so emotional from the end of a book, but I cried. I highly recommend this biographical book.

I was brought to the states in 1989 when I was just 3 years old. My father already lived here and my mom, my brother, and I came with Visas to overstay them and finally be with my dad. I was undocumented until I was a teenager, and became a citizen in my late teens. I can relate to some parts of this book and Jose's story. I learned a lot of things about the history of immigration policy in the 20th century. This is a good book for the critical readers, as well as the supporters, and obviously the ones who know and have experienced the plight themselves, too.

Important at all costs

There are important reads and then there are IMPORTANT at all costs reads. And this book/memoir/manifesto is absolutely required listening. So many people have absolutely no clue as to how immigration works or how the industrial complexes profit from the disparity of human beings.

I found myself at times wrapped up in despair, as much despair as my very privileged white american born self can have in this, enveloped in the pain of belonging nowhere yet home somewhere. I found myself in tears so many times, remembering the pain my ex-husband, an undocumented Mexican immigrant, has been through, there were so many gut-wrenching parallels in Vargas's story to his story. What a gift this book is to a world that closes its eyes to the migration of human beings, exploits them and uses them as political fodder, from every side of the isle. What a gift it is to break open the truth and lay it bare for all to read. Jose Antonio Vargas, your bravery is to be commended and that bravery shouldn't have to be such, but in this case that's exactly what it is. Thank you for sharing your story, for those who don't have the means to do so. For those that can't or are stuck in the cycle of fear, which is very real fact based fear.

"What we're doing - waving a "Keep Out!" flag at the Mexican border while holding up a Help Wanted sign a hundred yards in - is deliberate. Spending billions building fences and walls, locking people up like livestock, deporting people to keep the people we don't want out, tearing families apart, breaking spirits - all of that serves a purpose." Brought me to my knees. THIS IS THE TRUTH. The truth of the country I was born in, TRUTH in the community and neighborhood I live in. Built upon the backs of migration of a border that crossed them...

Excellent

I hope many, many, many people listen/read this book. He explained everything. He shared some of the facts a bit slower than I wish he had, but they were all there. It's quite a complete book of the concerns and realities of modern day immigrants. Of course, every person's journey is different. He also does well sharing that this is his story and that every has their own story. As a reporter, I appreciate his ability to cover many angles.

I hope people take this book for the reality it shows us of living as an undocumented immigrant in the USA. If we're going to judge what is not ours to judge, I hope we do so with the facts. I was not aware of many of the facts presented in this book until two years ago. They are not readily available or shared when immigration is in the news. That's a horrible shame.

America is hiding

A brilliant description of living a life in a country with a government that is hiding from its responsibility to its immigrants. Painfully honest. As told by someone who now feels like an old friend!

My new favorite book

I am terrible at reading books for leisure. I started this book a long time ago, in print. I kept trying to go back to it, but I'm just really bad at making the time.

I finally decided to give Audiobooks a try and I am so glad I did. This book is officially my favorite book. The audio version is read by Jose Antonio Vargas himself, and I felt the pain in all of his words. The whole book is amazing, but the last few chapters had me crying many times as he put into words the pain that I struggle with so much. The pain of what I've lost, the pain of not belonging, the pain of uncertainty, the pain of being stuck, the pain of feeling ungrateful, and the pain of not having a home. Ni de aquí, ni de allá. My life story.

I highly recommend this book for anyone, regardless of your experience with or knowledge of our immigration system. He adds a historical policy framework throughout for a better understanding. Read this book, or listen to the audiobook, but absorb this. Somehow.

For educators, I would find a way to add this to your curriculum. It's so good. 💙