Although he immigrated to the US in his adolescence, many of his stories speak to me as if they were my own when I lived in the United States, from difficulties in working, studying, and in establishing a network of people to help and people who we had to "come out" to.
There is a big ordeal going on concerning his status since the publication and who knows this sort of thing will strike some sort interest in acting upon the many immigration laws being discussed!
A few quotes that stuck with me...
On Who Undocumented Immigrants Are -
"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."
On the Feeling of Doing Something Wrong -
"This deceit [of using illegal documentation] never got easier. The more I did it, the more I felt like an impostor, the more guilt I carried — and the more I worried that I would get caught. But I kept doing it. I needed to live and survive on my own, and I decided this was the way."
On Not Being Able to Work Althought the Job Was Mine -
"I panicked, thinking my documents wouldn’t pass muster. So before starting the job, I called Pat and told her about my legal status. After consulting with management, she called me back with the answer I feared: I couldn’t do the internship."
Read the full essay here. And for your listening while reading pleasure, my recent discovery of also immigrant to the US, Philippino born, hip-hop/jazz collective Simple Citizens :-)
What do you guys think? After reading the essay, do you have any thoughts on Jose Antonio's story?
