Yesterday, Pulitzer winning reporter Jose Vargas published an essay in the New York Times, describing his experiences as an undocumented student, and later journalist in the United States. The essay, titled “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” details Vargas’ experiences– from when he first discovered he was in the country illegally, to the present day.
In the article, Vargas writes:
There are believed to be 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. We’re not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you might read. I grew up here. This is my home. Yet even though I think of myself as an American and consider America my country, my country doesn’t think of me as one of its own.
Vargas’ own experiences reflect those of many undocumented immigrants in the U.S., including the narrators in our own book Underground America: Narratives of Undocumented Lives. In the book, men and women from all over the world recount their experiences living and working in the U.S. without legal documentation. To learn more about the book, or to read an excerpt, just click here.
