The Legal and the Illegal Humans have a never ending thirst for a better life, and a better existence for themselves and those they hold dear. Jose Antonio Vargas was sent away from the Philippines by his mother hoping that he would be able to achieve a better life, and be happy. In “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas is able to find his better life and happiness in America but also fear and anxiety. Vargas gives us a look into the life of an illegal immigrant the good, the bad, their achievements and their constant struggles. Very much like Vargas my father immigrated to America, but legally in 1986. “Outlaw: My Life in America as an Undocumented Immigrant” is an essay written about Vargas life as an illegal immigrant in the United States of America. The essay starts with Vargas being taken to man his mother called his Uncle but he would later learn was a coyote, a smuggler, this man would bring Vargas to the states and supply him with papers. Leaping forward several years to when he was sixteen Vargas rode his bike to the D.M.V. to apply for a driver’s permit and was denied because of his fake papers. After learning of his illegal status he, rushed back to his grandfather to see if it was true. After his grandfather confirmed it Vargas came to the conclusion that he would work to get his citizenship. Vargas states, “If I worked enough, if I achieved enough, I would …show more content…
My father has told me and my sister how lucky we are since we were born, how lucky he is. My father was encouraged by my grandparents to come to America and live a better life, much like Vargas was sent by his mother. My grandparents were middle class workers who wanted nothing but the best for their kids, trying their best to give 7 kids the best life possible and realized my father and my Aunt could only get so far in Morocco and had them apply for green
Throughout the course of my life, I have always encountered individuals wanting to better their economic situation especially those within my community. Those who come from impoverished communities in other countries risk their lives and lifetime savings to come to the United States hoping that one day they will regain everything that they lost. Their only motivation to come to this country is to be able to provide their family with basic necessities and in order to do this, they must work two or more jobs that pay at minimum wage and are taken for granted. However, many individuals do not see this side of the story and categorize immigrants as unambitious people. In order to be completely aware of what immigrants truly go through and how they succeed in life, one must be willing to place themselves in their shoes and hear his/her story. We must acknowledge that the hands of these people work in back breaking jobs in order to sustain their families. While some Americans may be against immigrants arriving to the United States in search of a better life and the American Dream, in The Madonnas of Echo Park, Brando Skyhorse further reveals that immigrants are exploited as cheap labor, and although they contribute greatly to the everyday function of American industry, they are quite invisible.
Recently illegal immigration has become a very pressing issue among people. Many people around the borders are being greatly affected by the issue and think immediate action needs to be taken to put a stop to the issue. The Documentary Border War: Battle Over Illegal Immigration takes a stand on the issue using many examples of pathos, ethos, and logos to try and persuade people that illegal immigration is a very serious issue and we need to put a stop to it. This documentary follows the lives of people who have been affected by illegal immigration, and explains how they feel about the issue. Another way that people can look at the issue of illegal immigration is through the eyes of the immigrants, and the reasons why they might be trying migrate to another country. The documentary Wetback: The Undocumented Documentary focuses on the issue from this point of view. This documentary uses pathos and logos to show the lives and hardships of those people who are trying to migrate to a new country. Although Wetback used many examples of pathos and logos to show the struggles of the migrants, Border War did a better job showing pathos by following the lives of people who were affected by the illegal immigrants they were also very persuasive with ethos by following credible people.
In Marcelo M. Suarez- Orozco and Carola Suarez- Orozco’s article “How Immigrants became “other” Marcelo and Carola reference the hardships and struggles of undocumented immigrants while at the same time argue that no human being should be discriminated as an immigrant. There are millions of undocumented people that risk their lives by coming to the United States all to try and make a better life for themselves. These immigrants are categorized and thought upon as terrorist, rapists, and overall a threat to Americans. When in reality they are just as hard working as American citizens. This article presents different cases in which immigrants have struggled to try and improve their life in America. It overall reflects on the things that immigrants go through. Immigrants come to the United States with a purpose and that is to escape poverty. It’s not simply crossing the border and suddenly having a great life. These people lose their families and go years without seeing them all to try and provide for them. They risk getting caught and not surviving trying to make it to the other side. Those that make it often don’t know where to go as they are unfamiliar. They all struggle and every story is different, but to them it’s worth the risk. To work the miserable jobs that Americans won’t. “I did not come to steal from anyone. I put my all in the jobs I take. And I don’t see any of the Americans wanting to do this work” (668). These
Anthropologist Leo Chavez presents a very descriptive and detailed account when he wrote Shadowed Lives, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICAN SOCIETY it takes readers into the lives and experiences of illegal immigrants. Chavez is detailed within the book points are placed regarding people's choice to migrate as well as their stories of crossing the border into the United States We can learn a lot from Chavez's book, making distinct opinions on immigration itself, and the difference in immigration culture after migrating.
Even though immigration brings in people from all over the world, many people tend to focus and stereotype all undocumented immigrants as coming from Mexico. As we can see through the novel and through the recent immigrant influx during the summer, the United States is seeing more and more people from Central and Latin America. These native countries are unable to provide a safe, productive environment for its people, so they need to look for a way to support their families. Even if that means going through the dangers of the trains, crossing the Rio Grande, and realizing that the “picture perfect” society of the U.S. is nothing but a
Jose Vargas, an undocumented immigrant, believes hard work can greatly impact the ability to gain citizenship in the United States. In the article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” Vargas explains his life and how much he struggled lying his way through school and work. To persuade the reader to believe that he should be considered an American citizen, Vargas uses rhetorical strategies throughout his essay. Vargas’ use of pathos was very effective because it caused the reader to empathize for him and providing information about his background made his character more reliable through ethos, however his lack of logos made a big difference throughout his article.
Jose Antonio Vargas’s article on My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant is a writing about his childhood journey from the Philippines to the United States as an Undocumented Immigrant. Vargas writes this article to emphasize the topic of immigrant and undocumented immigrant in the United States. He uses all three appeals: pathos, ethos, and logic in his writing, in specific, he mostly uses pathos throughout of his entire article with a purpose for the reader to sympathize and to feel compassion for him. The use of these appeals attract many readers, they can feel and understand his purpose is to ask for others to join and support other people who undocumented immigrant like himself. In addition, it gives other undocumented immigrant people courage
There are over twelve million undocumented immigrants living in the United States. Many came to America to work, go to school, or be reunited with family members who are already residing here. Most migrants want to work and pursue the “American dream”. There are many barriers for residents to achieving success at the work and life balance. The immigrants fall back on public assistance to support them.
Martinez, Oscar. Border People: Life and Society in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands. (Tucson: The University of Arizona Press, 1994), 232.
After reading The Book of the Unknown Americans, I realized how difficult immigrating to the United States can be. I am an immigrant also, so just reading the story makes me relate to many problems immigrants experience relocating to a different country. Immigrants often face many issues and difficulties, but for some it is all worth it, but for others there comes a point in time where they have to go back to their hometown. Alma and Arturo Rivera came to the United States to better their life, but also so that Maribel could attend a special education school. While Arturo had a job things had gone well for the family, but once Arturo lost the job and passed away the two of them had to go back because they felt that that was the best option for them. Reading this book made me realize how strong an individual has to be to leave their own country and relocate somewhere else not knowing if this will better your life or cause one to suffer.
Furthermore, Vargas faced many personal and career obstacles in his story. For example, at the age of 12 his mother sent him thousands of miles away to live with Vargas’s grandparents in America who were both naturalized citizens because she wanted to give him a better life. After Vargas arrived in San Francisco, he fell in love with the area and loved living with his grandparents. As years went by, Vargas, who was 16 at this time, went to the D.M.V. to get his driver’s permit, but fortunately the clerk working at the office told Vargas that his Green Card was fake and never to come back. After questioning his grandparents, Vargas finds out that he was smuggled into the United States of America and all his documents were fraudulent. In Vargas’s essay, “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant”, his story fiddles with the readers emotions and makes the reader ponder the issue of immigration in the United States of
“ Ironically I faced discrimination from other immigrants rather than Americans themselves”, stated Valentina Luma when she was been interviewed. This quote was the most relatable to my experience of being an immigrant to United States of America compares to hers. Valentina Luma was the age of nine when her and her family immigrated from Dominican Republic to the United States. Luma’s journey to the United States wasn’t arduous physically rather mentally where the process to get accepted took almost a decade, she admits to understand why some immigrants would rather come to America illegally than wait almost a decade to come. Some of the positive
Do you know how an undocumented Immigrant lives in the United States? If not, one such immigrant, journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, wrote "My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant," published on June 22, 2011, in The New York Times Magazine, and responded the question with his life experience. He confided his secrets living in America, where he wasn 't supposed to live in. According to his words, he worked hard to enable maintaining in America, throughout, proving his value in America but just couldn 't get his documents. Vargas building his credibility base on the details of his personal affairs, convincing people to rethink about the undocumented Immigrants, and encouraging readers face the hardships and strive to make yourself better. However, towards the middle of his paper, he started to write about he 's gay weakens his purpose of the essay and
The policies implemented by the United States to strengthen the border and enforce immigration policies have led to the abuse and profiling of undocumented immigrants. Undocumented immigrants live in constant fear of deportation and are subjected to multiple human rights violations as they are abused, exploited and discriminated against. Immigrants are racialized and stereotyped. The US government has passed laws that discriminate against undocumented immigrants, making it harder for them to live and survive in America. These laws are due to the perception that undocumented immigrants are a burden on the US economy, but on the contrary undocumented immigrants provide an economic benefit to the US, and due to the benefit they provide society
A large part of the undocumented population was formed by Asian immigrants. Many of them have been deported by Obama Administration. Moreover, many of these are refugees who fled to the U.S. after the wars in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, had entered the United States as infants and toddlers. They have little or no family connection. Thousands of Cambodians and Vietnamese have faced the prospect of deportation (Hing 48). Some of the organizations, such as Asian Pacific Islander Youth Promoting Advocacy and Leadership appealed to Barack Obama administration to halt further deportations and has staged protests to raise awareness and engender action against deportation (Hing 49). However, according to Rep. Judy Chu, chairwoman of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, undocumented young people from Asian and Pacific Island nations make up only 2.6 percent of recipients of deportation relief under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, even though they account for about 8 percent of those eligible (Foley 56). Asian Americans do not get the same level of attention as Latino American because of the myth of “model minority”. The public can only see the good side of Asian immigrants in the U.S. Many of the stories about undocumented Asian immigrants are unknown. Jose Antonio Vargas who came to America in his early age. He is a successful journalist and activist. But now he is facing the risk of being