Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dear America, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Citizenship, Belonging, and Identity
Family, Love, and Intimacy
Immigration Politics and Policy
Journalism, Storytelling, and the Power of Truth
Summary
Analysis
Vargas has tried to live with “radical transparency” ever since he came out as undocumented. Some people dislike what he does; others think he doesn’t do enough. After coming out, he knew that he could be arrested and deported anywhere, anytime. In fact, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was deporting 400,000 people per year. Tired of waiting, Vargas decided to call them in May 2012. The agent on the other end of the line was confused.
“Radical transparency” is Vargas’s version of authenticity—or living in line with his own values, rather than blindly following someone else’s. He refused to lie, hide, or pass anymore because he believed that nobody should have to lie, hide, or pass to live in a free society. While bold and possibly foolish, calling ICE is a logical extension of this idea. He refuses to live passively in fear, which amounts to accepting a subservient place in American society. Instead, he prefers to take matters into his own hands.
Themes
Then, in 2013, Vargas testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Lola, his Uncle Conrad, his Aunt Aida, Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer, and Jim Strand all came to Washington, D.C. Vargas was terrified of breaking down during his testimony. He told the senators about how he and other undocumented immigrants were treated as political abstractions, not real people, and he thanked his family and mentors for their generosity. He also pulled out President Kennedy’s book, A Nation of Immigrants. Then, he started asking the committee questions: “What do you want to do with us? […] How do you define ‘American’?” When he finished, Senator Sessions asked him a basic question; the other Republicans asked nothing.
In his Senate testimony, Vargas honed in on the central question at the heart of immigration politics: what is “America” and who gets to claim it? This question is at the heart of most activists’ beliefs about the immigration system (on both sides of the political aisle). Why do people whose ancestors immigrated to the U.S. earlier count—when immigration was explicitly limited to white people—and later immigrants face more barriers? Why do native-born Americans deserve more rights and privileges than people like Vargas, who have spent the vast majority of their lives contributing to the U.S.? What moral difference makes Vargas worthy of being undocumented, while Lolo and Lola deserve to be citizens? However, the senators’ disappointing response suggests that they weren’t willing to grapple with this question directly—probably because their answer to it doesn’t determine the course of their lives, like it does for Vargas.
Themes
Despite appearing in front of Congress, Vargas still wasn’t known to ICE because he hadn’t been arrested. When he called ICE on the phone, the agent ultimately told him, “No comment.”
The ICE agent’s uncertainty and confusion on the phone serves as a metaphor for the unpredictable, disorganized, and often random way the U.S. immigration system works in general. This is arguably the scariest part about being undocumented for Vargas: there doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the system that holds almost total control over his life.
Themes
