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
When he was in the jail cell with all the boys, Vargas wondered what their parents were thinking when they sent their children away. He also wondered what his own mother was thinking when she sent him to the U.S. It’s something they’ve never found the courage to discuss. In fact, Mama also lost her mother: she has only seen Lola a handful of times since 1984, and their relationship revolves around sending money and goods from the U.S. to the Philippines. Vargas wonders whether his Mama would have made the same decision back in 1993 if, back then, she knew everything that she knows today.
Vargas connects his personal immigration trauma to his mother’s, his grandmother’s, and that of millions of other immigrants and families. In doing so, he again underlines how policy choices create patterns of profound human suffering across the U.S. and the world. In the case of immigration, U.S. policy forces people to choose between their families and their livelihood—but it doesn’t have to be this way. Different policies could let immigrants choose both. Despite succeeding in the U.S., Vargas still wonders if sacrificing his family was worth it.
Themes
