7:00 Hey, it’s Sarah Coughlon here (for yet another live blog) with Lynda Negron for the Jose Antonio Vargas event at Conversations With Kirkland!
7:01: Hey! It’s Lynda Negron (with Sarah!) reporting from the Jose Antonio Vargas Keynote speech address for the Immigrant Rights Coalition Summit!
7:09 A little background on our guest: Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who’s worked for the Washington Post and the Huffington Post, and his work appeared in other national publications including the New Yorker and the New York Times. Most recently, Vargas gained considerable attention for his piece in the New York Times, “My Life As An Illegal Immigrant,” where he revealed that he is an undocumented immigrant born in the Philippines. We are thrilled to have him here, can’t wait to hear what he has to share with us.
7:10: As a DREAMer, Vargas is a dedicated immigration rights activist and supports the DREAM Act, a bill that would offer undocumented minors pathways to citizenship if said minors attend at least two years of college or join the military. He is very impressed with the advocacy group on campus Harvard Act on a Dream for our leadership. Harvard Act on a Dream is currently hosting an Immigration Rights Coalition Summit in hopes of discovering new ways to advance the current status of the DREAM Act and other Immigration Policies
7:17 The Act On A Dream representatives are introducing the Ivy League (plus NYU and Georgetown) summit that this is speech is the keynote for. Now they are showing a short documentary that Vargas produced, explaining his story.
7:25 And he’s here! Vargas is describing his recent trip to Alabama: until last week’s injunction on their recent immigration law (modelled on my own native state’s SB 1070 – reppin’ Arizona), it was actually a felony for someone like him to be in the state.
7:26: Vargas went to Alabama because he wanted to witness the xenophobic environment himself. He spent a few hours outside of Kohl’s and interviewed to eight people. Six of those eight said they supported the law but were completely ignorant to what was in the actual law.
7:27 Vargas is describing his experience talking to Alabamans (is that the correct term?) about the law: the level of ignorance about the immigration process among the American public really is upsetting. As the daughter of an immigration attorney, I’m with him: it’s a very complex process that very few people understand, though everyone seems to have an opinion about it.
7:30 He raises a really interesting point about coverage of the immigration issue: much as we talk about the issue, there’s not a lot of coverage about who undocumented immigrants are. Although “the illegals” are as good a drinking game point as you’re likely to find in a GOP debate, a lot of people don’t personally know open undocumented immigrants. I think the comparison to the gay rights movement might be helpful (he’s describing his first coming out story – this time as a gay man, not an undocumented immigrant): there’s a huge difference between talking about people in the abstract and talking about your friends, neighbors, and classmates.
7:31: Vargas describes when he “came out”… both time. “I live with the reality that I just happen to be gay. The same way I just live with the reality that I happen to be undocumented.”
7:35 “We can’t talk about minority rights without isolating and defining what the majority is.” Vargas points out that, as an Asian-looking gay man with a Hispanic name who is an undocumented immigrant who majored in Poli Sci and Black Studies in college, he is as minority as minority gets. At the same time, he says, we need to remember that everyone is somehow a majority unto themselves. “Coming out” is just making the world aware of what you as an individual have already been aware of.
7:36: Vargas discusses his struggles to find the confidence to write his now highly revered and controversial article “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant.” He was inspired by the bravery of the DREAMers that risked their residence in the United States and positions as students in their prestigious universities to write the article to speak up and take a stance.
7:38 Vargas is pointing out that the meaning of “what it is to be American” is very much in flux. (He makes a really interesting point about how that’s the reason why Obama’s race was such an issue for many people.) This (predominantly Hispanic) room at Harvard is just as much “real America” as small-town Iowa.
7:40: Vargas states that it is the responsibility of us, all of us, citizen and undocumented alike to help with the advancement of the DREAM Act and the Immigration Rights movement in general. This is no longer a Latino issue. Every race and ethnicity can relate because this country was created on immigration.
7:41 He’s really passionate about the media coverage of immigration issues: it doesn’t come up a whole lot, and when it does the narrative is very simplistic. (“When Herman Cain gets up and talks about securing the border, I don’t know what he’s talking about: my border was the Pacific Ocean.”)
7:43 “This is not an abstraction: this is people’s lives.” He’s launching a video series on how we define “American,” so… DREAMers out there (and anyone else passionate about immigration issues), make a quick video on how you define “American” and send it to him (jose@defineamerican.com).
7:45 “You have to find the moral strength and the moral grounding within yourself. People are going to keep knocking you [referring to the DREAMers in the audience] down.” Vargas’ inspirational message to the DREAMers to not give up and persevere even with all the adversities that face them in their quest for higher education.
7:48 “How has your life changed since you came out in the New York Times?” His driver’s license has been revoked (“I love driving… is there anything more American than driving?”), though he describes that as “inevitable.” He isn’t working, which means that – ironically – this is the first time that he has been unable to pay taxes. (That’s one of the more interesting issues, I think, surrounding immigration: living with dignity as an undocumented immigrant often requires flirting with the edges of fraud laws, which is really unfortunate.)
7:49 Vargas tells us how grateful he is for social networks. “I think what social networks do is test everyone’s empathy quotient.” He thinks that social networks allow the foreign to seem less foreign, and he thanks twitter and Facebook for the success that the article had.
7:53 Discussing community as it relates to the DREAM Act, Vargas points out that he has the same hazy immigration status “as the guy standing outside Home Depot.” I think that’s why he’s become such an effective symbol for this issue.
7:55 He points out that a worrisome trend in discussion of the DREAM Act is the tendency for politicians to talk about how we shouldn’t “punish children for the sins of their parents.” He says that “I cringe when I hear that,” and describes how the only sin his mother committed was sending him to America so he could have a better life.
7:55 Vargas states that “preaching to the choir” won’t help the advancement of the DREAM Act, or any immigration reform. The coalitions need to branch out and reach out to the greater public that is uneducated in the issue. It’s about stepping out of comfort zones and educating the youth.
7:58 Now he’s addressing a question about how to bring this issue into the mainstream: “It’s important that we not be preaching to the choir.” He suggests that students who want to create change on this issue need to reach out to some groups that may be a bit counter-intuitive, from College Republicans to local Kiwanis Clubs to religious organizations beyond just local Catholic churches.
8:01 “You have a responsibility to never give up on yourself.” He says that he has a lot of difficulty talking to DREAM Act kids sometimes because there just isn’t a whole lot to say: it’s going to be very difficult, so you just do your best.
8:01 When one student asks what the future holds in store for the DREAM Act, Vargas states “looking at California and Alabama, I’m dizzy.” The country is moving in two different directions, and yet immigrants have become completely integrated into American society.
8:06 A great conversation with a really inspirational figure: it was great to have him here.
8:06 As the conversation with Jose Antonio Vargas comes to an end, the night ends with a documentary presentation featuring an interview with a DREAMer who discusses his hardships and successes. The conversation itself was inspiring, riveting, and excited us all to see where how the DREAM Act will advance in Congress.