Vinay Maruri

Mrs. Robins p.8

9/4/14
Outlaw by Jose Antonio Vargas
The promise of a better life. That idea is what drives people from all over the
world to immigrate to America. They see endless opportunity here and they choose
to move away from their homelands. However, not everybody came to America
willingly. This is the case with Jose Antonio Vargas in Outlaw, where he was forced
by his family to move from the Philippines to America when he was 12. Since then,
he has been living in America with fake documents, or real documents obtained with
false information. In theory, he could be thrown out of the country at any minute.
However, this would not be fair to him whatsoever because America is the only land
that he can remember, having lost all connections to the Philippines. His situation is
not unique in this regard as hundreds of thousands of people unwittingly illegally
immigrated into this country when they were children. They dont deserve to be
sent back to their homelands because the United States is the only home that they
have known. The only reason they are in their situations is because the United
States cannot create effective immigration policy. People like Mr. Vargas dont
deserve to going about my day in fear of being found out because for all intents
and purposes, they should be residents of the United States.
America is a country of immigrants. The first people to live in North America
immigrated across the Bering Strait into Alaska from Eastern Russia. This is why I
have a problem with the United States deporting innocent people who have lived
here all of their lives. People like Mr. Vargas should be allowed to continue their lives
uninterrupted because they have done nothing wrong. As the author wrote, he had

gaps in my memory about even coming to America. He didnt know what he was
doing and he could be punished for offenses that he had no knowledge of. Aside
from his ignorance, these people shouldnt be deported because they have
successful lives in America and they worked hard in order to do so. For example, in
his essay, Mr. Vargas not only spent as much time at his school as the principal, but
he also paid attention to every detail in order to write the best articles that he could
possibly write in order to gain better standing in his office. He had a drive to
succeed and the country should be rewarding him for that. Instead, we leave Mr.
Vargas and others like him in limbo, stuck between hiding in their own country
where they have succeeded, or going back to a foreign land where they have
nothing. It doesnt make sense to punish people for being successful, otherwise
everybody in the world would have to be punished because humans want to
succeed at whatever they do. We encourage success in our world and we shouldnt
punish people like Mr. Vargas for having the opportunity for success due to other
peoples actions.
In the essay itself, the language that Mr. Vargas used is professional, as you
would expect from a newspaper writer, but it also is very easy for the reader to
relate to. For example, when he is writing about coming out as gay at his school, the
language he used seemed very calm and professional like he was in control of the
situation, despite the fact that he may not have been. Yet that same language is
also very easy for the reader to connect to. The reader can understand why coming
out as gay would caused turmoil with my grandparents, because it is a huge
event that nobody can truly anticipate. By using this style of language, this essay
was very enjoyable to read and I would have read it even if it werent for school.

Outlaw by Jose Antonio Vargas, is an essay that is well written about the
controversial topic of immigration. Mr. Vargas is in a state of limbo and he is in that
situation only because of decisions his family made for him. He has a successful life
in America, and he is integrated into society. He doesnt deserve to be deported and
people in similar situations dont deserve to be deported to their homelands. They
fulfilled the promise of a better life that America offered to them.