Donald Trump was the president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Jose Antonio Vargas considers Trump’s presidency the worst era for immigrants in modern U.S. history because Trump’s political strategy was largely based around demonizing immigrants. Vargas tried to counter Trump’s talking points by going on Fox News, and after Trump’s victory, he left his L.A. apartment because he worried that keeping a permanent address would leave him vulnerable to deportation.
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President Trump Character Timeline in Dear America
The timeline below shows where the character President Trump appears in Dear America. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
Vargas argues that Donald Trump’s presidency is the worst time for immigrants in the modern history of the U.S. Trump...
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Part 2, Chapter 17: Outlaw
...current system, this is impossible. When NBC anchor Chuck Todd was about to interview Donald Trump about immigration, Vargas called Todd to inform him that Asian immigrants are the fastest growing...
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...of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which the civil rights movement made possible. Unsurprisingly, Trump yearns to return to the 1950s, when Black Americans didn’t have civil rights and nonwhite...
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...and filled with white journalists who don’t challenge racism (even when it comes from President Trump). Vargas asks when the American public will finally confront the question of who does and...
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Part 2, Chapter 21: Progress
...whether inclusive politics is really possible in the U.S. In 2015, he started predicting that Trump would win the 2016 election.
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Just after Donald Trump won the 2016 election, Vargas gave a speech at a racial justice conference in Atlanta....
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Part 3, Chapter 4: Leaving
Just before President Trump’s inauguration, Vargas’s doorman and one of his lawyer friends suggested he think about moving out,...
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Part 3, Chapter 5: Staying
...Nancy Pelosi’s invitation and his friend Alida’s email, he realized that he wouldn’t let Donald Trump scare him into leaving his country. While he doesn’t have legal papers, he has his...
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