--- title: Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate | TIME description: Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas talks about growing up undocumented in America, and why immigration is the most misunderstood issue in the U.S. today canonical: https://time.com/video/IeRXis39/ og:title: Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate og:description: Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas talks about growing up undocumented in America, and why immigration is the most misunderstood issue in the U.S. today og:url: https://time.com/video/IeRXis39/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IeRXis39/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate twitter:description: Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas talks about growing up undocumented in America, and why immigration is the most misunderstood issue in the U.S. today twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/IeRXis39/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate [Watch (HLS stream): Undocumented Americans: Inside the Immigration Debate](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IeRXis39.m3u8) (3:21)  _Published 2012-06-14. Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas talks about growing up undocumented in America, and why immigration is the most misunderstood issue in the U.S. today_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:25 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Authorities Say Man Accused of Killing Officer During Traffic Stop Is Undocumented Immigrant](/video/O8i1FDq8/) ### Authorities Say Man Accused of Killing Officer During Traffic Stop Is Undocumented Immigrant [Protesters Block Buses Of Undocumented Immigrants in California](/video/PIOOsDTq/) ### Protesters Block Buses Of Undocumented Immigrants in California [Undocumented Immigrants: Google+ Hangout](/video/NtK9emze/) ### Undocumented Immigrants: Google+ Hangout --- ## Transcript I'm an undocumented immigrant from Nigeria. I'm an undocumented immigrant from Brazil. I'm an undocumented immigrant from Germany. From Mexico. From Peru. From Brazil. From Israel. From Romania. [ INAUDIBLE ] I'm Jose Antonio Vargas. I'm an undocumented immigrant from the Philippines. I'm writing a cover story for Time Magazine. On my life as an undocumented immigrant. and immigration in 21st century America. I came out, as an undocumented immigrant in the way that I know how. I ended up writing an essay for the New York Times magazine, almost about a year ago now. [ MUSIC ] I'm frankly surprised that thousands of people get deported, almost 400, 000 people last year alone. I came out in a very public way and nothing has happened. I was in ninth grade when I first came out as an undocumented student to a teacher of mine. There's no reason why I should hide my status. It was probably one of the best decisions that I've ever made. There's no way to make myself quote unquote" legal ". The process is not easy. And in the years I've been traveling around the country and getting to know this issue what I've really understood is how this is arguably the most fundamental misunderstood issue in America. I've been helping organizing the efforts against HB 56 which is the worst anti immigrant law in the country. This law has not only hurt our families the communities, but also the economy of Alabama. In the past that worked, advocating, and promoting the stories of other undocumented youth but I knew that I needed to add my voice to it. Illegal immigration is not just about people like me. If it weren't for teachers, and pastors, and neighbors, and parents, and friends all of these American citizens that help people like me We couldn't get through it. And if you think about, if every document a person has at least three or four or five people in their lives were doing this. They were talking about an issue that impacts way more than 12 million people. All of my friends are here. My family is here. All of the meaningful connections, experiences that I have had have been in the United States. Being recognized as an American, because I feel I already am that is important to be able to feel whole, to be able to feel realized and to be able to do the things that I've been wanting to do for a very long time. For me, the citizenship would be an outward Manifestation of an inward truth. This is where I wanna stay. This is where I wanna have my life and this is where I want to give back to a community that's given me so much. Really the question of immigration is even bigger than immigration itself. It's the question of citizenship. It's the question of what this country is about. It becomes the question of how you even define what an American is. And that's what I'm trying to figure out. 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