At age 12, Jose Antonio Vargas
was sent from his home in the Philippines, to California to live with his
grandparents. He never suspected he was an illegal immigrant until he applied
for his driver’s license at age 16, when the clerk told him he had a fake green
card. After confronting his grandfather, he learned his grandparents had
purchased him fake documents. With help from his high school principal and
superintendent, Jose received a scholarship to San Francisco State University,
which helped him achieve his dream of becoming a writer. After a promising
internship at the Washington Post, Jose received a job there and quickly became
a well-known writer. Jose had written a profile of Mark Zuckerberg for The New
Yorker, written an article on the HIV/AIDS epidemic which inspired a
documentary, and received a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the Virginia
Tech shootings.
Even with his contributions to
the United States, Jose is facing deportation after he announced to the public
that he is an illegal immigrant. Now, Jose is pushing for Congress to pass the
DREAM Act, which would allow illegal immigrants like Jose to become citizens if
they serve in the army or go to University. I believe that people like Jose
should be allowed to stay, regardless of the rules. For starters, Jose was
unknowing of his illegal status and he’s had a positive contribution to the
United States.
In The House of the Scorpion, I find Matt’s story very similar to
Jose’s. Matt was forced by Celia & Tam Lin (parent figures) to make a run
for it over the Opium and Alacran border, and Jose was sent by his parents to
illegally live with his grandparents. Both were of similar age when this
happened, and were sent by their parents or caretakers to live in a different
country for a better life.
When Celia wanted to go the United States, she turned to a
Coyote, a man who takes people over the border. She did this because she didn’t
know of any other way to reach the United States, and needed to escape her life
in Alacran. In the book and in real
life, the millions of illegal immigrants are leading people to question if it
is too difficult to be granted immigration to ‘in-demand’ countries such as the
United States and Canada.
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