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
“I do not know where I will be when you read this book,” writes Jose Antonio Vargas. He has a “Notice to Appear” from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This means the government can start proceedings to deport him at any time.
Vargas begins by describing the danger, fear, and uncertainty that undocumented immigrants like him face in the U.S. He has lived his whole adult life in the U.S. and, by any measure, it is his home. But because of a legal technicality—he lacks other papers that most Americans have—the government can order him to leave.
Themes
Vargas argues that Donald Trump’s presidency is the worst time for immigrants in the modern history of the U.S. Trump is publicly demonizing refugees, “Dreamers,” and undocumented immigrants. The U.S. is deporting anyone it can—even cancer patients when they go to hospitals for treatment. It’s also separating children from their families at the border and breaking international asylum law.
While many Americans might experience Trump’s threats as distasteful or offensive, for many undocumented immigrants, they can literally make a life-or-death difference. Trump’s policies and rhetoric are an example of how the U.S. tends to dehumanize undocumented immigrants, which enables the government to direct violent, unnecessarily cruel policies at them. In contrast, Vargas’s aim in his journalism, his documentaries, and this book is to put a human face on undocumented immigration.
Themes
In his years as an activist, Vargas has spoken about immigration all across the U.S., and he has learned that most Americans know nothing about the immigration system. But his book isn’t about politics: it’s about being undocumented in the U.S. and not having a home or true freedom.
Vargas emphasizes that scholars and journalists have to inform the public about the reality of immigration if they want public policy to ever change. However, facts and statistics only matter because of the deeper human reality that they represent. Thus, compelling storytelling and informative reporting must go hand-in-hand.
Themes
In a “Note to Readers,” Vargas notes that there are about eleven million undocumented immigrants in the U.S. All have unique stories and experiences, but they share three common experiences: “Lying, Passing, and Hiding.” These are the titles of his book’s three sections.
While Vargas does not want to overshadow other undocumented people’s stories, he also has to give his readers a general template for thinking about the kinds of experiences and challenges they live with. They have to lie about their immigration status, try to pass as citizens or legal residents, and hide from authorities, institutions, and often even friends and acquaintances. Vargas wants to show why each of these choices is at once painful, unnecessary, and relatable. He wants his readers to empathize with undocumented people’s suffering, recognize that it can easily be eliminated through policy, and also realize that they might make the same decisions if they were undocumented, too.
Themes
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