Imagine living your life as you think you know it. You're sure you know who you are. And you're quite sure where you want to go with your future and what you want to do with your life.
Now imagine watching all of that suddenly fade away. Suddenly, you're no longer feeling so secure. Suddenly, you're unsure of your own future. Suddenly, you can relate to the story of Jose Antonio Vargas and the millions of other DREAMers living in this nation.
Just this morning, Jose Antonio Vargas was arrested and detained by US Border Patrol agents in McAllen, Texas. Ironically, Vargas was there to report on the Central American refugee crisis. It didn't take long for Vargas himself to become part of the story.
But then again, Jose Antonio Vargas himself is a refugee. His family brought him into the US so he could escape the poverty he was enduring in the Philippines and build a better life. He didn't even know he was undocumented until he was 16.
And he's not alone. Many more refugees have come here seeking asylum and hoping for a fresh start. And while a Kenyan woman recently succeeded in attaining legal status, millions more LGBTQ immigrants are living in limbo and waiting for the opportunity to emerge from the shadows.
And they're not alone. Bryan Rivera's mother just wanted her son to succeed. When she sued her abusive ex for child support, he turned her in to ICE. Bryan had to seek the aid of Rep. Steven Horsford (D-North Las Vegas) to free his mother from Henderson Detention Center.
Imagine having the solution to this problem right at your desk. And imagine that solution also holding the potential to boost the economy. Now imagine that solution being smothered to death in the lower House of Congress because the 21st Century Know Nothings don't want any solutions.
If Rep. Joe Heck (R-Henderson) and his House Republican colleagues truly care about finding a comprehensive solution to this complex problem, they know exactly where to find it. Oh, and where might that be? Try HR 15.
They don't need to imagine something else. They can simply take up what's been waiting for them since October. And they can actually be productive for a change. Now imagine that.
Showing posts with label Jose Antonio Vargas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jose Antonio Vargas. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
The Shadows
Please pardon the lighting in our photos and videos below. The lighting wasn't great at the theater. It felt like we were all caught in the shadows.
In a way, it was actually quite fitting. We had all just seen "Documented". Last night, PLAN hosted a screening at Town Square of Jose Antonio Vargas' autobiographical documentary.
When he was 12, Jose Antonio Vargas was flown to America. He moved in with his grandparents. He was excelling in school. He was integrating into American society.
But when he attempted to obtain a driver's license 4 years later, he discovered a terrible secret. It just happens to be the same secret 11 million other Americans have had to grapple with. It's a secret we prefer to keep in the shadows, even though it's perhaps one of the nation's worst kept secrets.
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. He's worked for such prestigious institutions as The Washington Post and Huffington Post. Yet because he's undocumented, politicians like Mitt Romney want him to "self-deport" and "wait in line" for 18 years or longer for something that would likely never come to pass.
After the screening, local immigrants shared their stories. Blanca is about to earn her second bachelor's degree at UNLV, and she's about to start law school. Rafi is already an accomplished organizer, and he's about to earn his bachelor's in psychology at UNLV. Both have lived in Nevada since they were babies. Yet because they came here undocumented, politicians like Rep. Joe Heck (R-Flip-flop) claim they're being "bullied into amnesty" as Americans like Blanca & Rafi simply ask for a chance to succeed in the place they call home.
G-O-TEA politicians like Steve King (R-Crazy) have engaged in demagoguery in their effort to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). They've succeeded in convincing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Coward) to suffocate the bipartisan CIR legislation that the Senate passed nearly a year ago. However, they haven't succeeded in scaring all immigrants back into the shadows. These Americans are sick & tired of the craven games being played on Capitol Hill, and they're simply asking for a chance to stay out of the shadows for good.
A number of G-O-TEA politicians like to talk about "family values". Yet while they talk about "family values", they continue voting to break up millions of American families. They continue threatening American families who simply want to come out of the shadows and live normal lives.
Jared wants a normal life for his family. He just wants to stay with his mother. Why should we force them into the shadows just to try to avoid being torn apart?
11 million Americans have had to endure living in the shadows just survive. Even as they've gone onto build successful careers and strong families, they've had to stay in the shadows to avoid revealing a dangerous secret. Must we continue trying to keep this secret that's already spilled? Must we continue shoving people into the shadows to avoid confronting our own truth? Or is it time to dispense of the shadows, let go of the secret, and finally let these 11 million Americans come into the light?
In a way, it was actually quite fitting. We had all just seen "Documented". Last night, PLAN hosted a screening at Town Square of Jose Antonio Vargas' autobiographical documentary.
When he was 12, Jose Antonio Vargas was flown to America. He moved in with his grandparents. He was excelling in school. He was integrating into American society.
But when he attempted to obtain a driver's license 4 years later, he discovered a terrible secret. It just happens to be the same secret 11 million other Americans have had to grapple with. It's a secret we prefer to keep in the shadows, even though it's perhaps one of the nation's worst kept secrets.
Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. He's worked for such prestigious institutions as The Washington Post and Huffington Post. Yet because he's undocumented, politicians like Mitt Romney want him to "self-deport" and "wait in line" for 18 years or longer for something that would likely never come to pass.
After the screening, local immigrants shared their stories. Blanca is about to earn her second bachelor's degree at UNLV, and she's about to start law school. Rafi is already an accomplished organizer, and he's about to earn his bachelor's in psychology at UNLV. Both have lived in Nevada since they were babies. Yet because they came here undocumented, politicians like Rep. Joe Heck (R-Flip-flop) claim they're being "bullied into amnesty" as Americans like Blanca & Rafi simply ask for a chance to succeed in the place they call home.
G-O-TEA politicians like Steve King (R-Crazy) have engaged in demagoguery in their effort to kill comprehensive immigration reform (CIR). They've succeeded in convincing House Speaker John Boehner (R-Coward) to suffocate the bipartisan CIR legislation that the Senate passed nearly a year ago. However, they haven't succeeded in scaring all immigrants back into the shadows. These Americans are sick & tired of the craven games being played on Capitol Hill, and they're simply asking for a chance to stay out of the shadows for good.
A number of G-O-TEA politicians like to talk about "family values". Yet while they talk about "family values", they continue voting to break up millions of American families. They continue threatening American families who simply want to come out of the shadows and live normal lives.
Jared wants a normal life for his family. He just wants to stay with his mother. Why should we force them into the shadows just to try to avoid being torn apart?
11 million Americans have had to endure living in the shadows just survive. Even as they've gone onto build successful careers and strong families, they've had to stay in the shadows to avoid revealing a dangerous secret. Must we continue trying to keep this secret that's already spilled? Must we continue shoving people into the shadows to avoid confronting our own truth? Or is it time to dispense of the shadows, let go of the secret, and finally let these 11 million Americans come into the light?
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