3 questions to ask yourself about US citizenship | Jose Antonio Vargas

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At age 16, journalist and filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas found out he was in the United States illegally. Since then, he's been thinking deeply about immigration and what it means to be a US citizen — whether it's by birth, law or otherwise. In this powerful talk, Vargas calls for a shift in how we think about citizenship and encourages us all to reconsider our personal histories by answering three questions: Where did you come from? How did you get here? Who paid?

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40 Comments on 3 questions to ask yourself about US citizenship | Jose Antonio Vargas

  1. The history lesson is great and all but this idea of current “America” your grandpa liked enough to pay smugglers and buy you a fake ID. While knowing the current laws and rules in place that he respectively followed for himself. Grandpa did wrong and now you are in a pickle over it. I hope you find a way to get it fixed and handled properly. And for the lesson in history of many MANY horrible actions, that at least thanks for sharing the past history of people that did right and had laws made to end those practices like slavery and not counting natives as citizens, ect. You seem like a nice dude,get that status issue fixed so you never have to hide or worry like your grandpa did. Wrong pasts that we as a nation have ended the practice doesnt justify a special pass from the shared laws.

    • I think he is suggesting the significance of the three core questions to ask about our personal immigration narrative. Also an objective and unbiased American History citizenship questions. After all, United States is THE global model of democracy and human rights. Good for him. He educated himself of American history. I probably need to review this video and objectively analyze the points presented. I encourage every viewer should probably do the same.

  2. I hope people know that this video doesn’t represent all, if not many, Filipinos who got their green card legitimately. Who went to the US for work or study and worked extremely hard to earn their rights to live there. Unfortunately, we live in a modern world wherein it’s easy to perceive an entire race based off of one single example. Nothing against Ted (the person on the video). I think his family was bold and brave. But I hope Ted (the channel) also feature an american filipino w/papers – cause there are tons of them too. To the youth and dreamers who view these videos too – I hope you discover that there are also examples of filipinos that worked hard for legitimate ways to immigrate to the US. This is just one out of a hundred thousand ways you can achieve a dream.

    • I have more than a few LEGALLY Immigrated Filipinos and it was not an easy path for them….. And they earned their position as an American. This man came here ignoring the law and now wants it for NOTHING. Go earn it and we will call you American. Meanwhile, pack your bags and head home.

    • Sadly what sells in today’s world is “I a here illegally, so what, gimme, gimme, gimme…” This attitude is an offense on everyone who did it the right way, even if the right way changed every year since the Mayflower. Of course with the logic in that I guess no others things changed, such as the speed limit on the road or the formation of governments, but that does not feed the gimmie gimmie gimmie narrative

    • I’ve worked with several people of various nationalities. Filipinos, Nigerians, Ethiopians, Russians, etc… Every single one of them were here because they worked hard to do so and were extremely proud of their citizenship and looked down on illegals just as harshly, if not more so, than the most hardline conservatives.

  3. I haven’t looked yet, but I’m sure the comment section will be polite and respectful and full of people displaying empathy.

    • Mine as well. You can’t criticize immigrants or black people on YouTube. Tried to have a debate with someone on the black crime rate and how it relates to police interactions. All deleted.

      I reported a post on Instagram that said “All white people should be killed”. They told me it didn’t meet their criteria for hate speech, or inciting violence and they let it stand. I made a comment about black people in a particular video acting like savages and it was deleted. There is a definite bias against anything considered to be white or conservative.

  4. This is not making a good case about immigration issues. I know people who took the time and made the sacrifices to do things “the right way” (i.e. followed current U.S. law). U.S. citizenship is not a human right. People all over the world are not born with the right to become U.S. citizens. U.S. immigration law is not there to prevent someone from exercising their right to U.S. citizenship.

    If you want to become a U.S. citizenship, then follow the steps necessary to do it legally. If people believe immigration law is unjust, then work to change it. But coming here illegally then complaining about immigration law is not going to win allies.

  5. Married to a Hispana … her father received citizenship the right way. Took many years and lots of money. He knew more about American history than most. His proudest day was his certification as a citizen. Sorry… illegal is illegal. Get in line and respect the rule of law. My wife has many family members who are doing it the right way. Parents telling you its ok,.is not ok. For whatever reason. When you understand the process as an adult, get it done. Period.

    • Except the process is ridiculously arbitrary, expensive and full of corruption; read the 2016 federal report on bribery and bias in the the US immigration system. 12%~ of all applicants are asked to provide a bribe at some point with about 20%~ of all rejections being estimated as the result of a refusal or failure to pay. There’s a systematic suppression of certain groups with a ‘black’ Colombian being something like 5x as likely to get rejected than his white Colombian counterpart even if all the other factors are the same.

  6. My maternal grandparents came here from the Philippines legally in the 70s when my mom was a child. I’m not sure when my dad’s side of the family came to this country, but I know my grandfather’s life story. When I think about where I came from, I think about my grandparents and their life stories; I think about the people, who risked so much and gave so much of themselves to help their brothers and sisters to come here legally in the 1970s. I think of the great aunts and uncles, and their smiling faces, and what a huge impact that had on my life. I think about family, and the fact that they didn’t want to leave anyone who wanted to come to the US behind.

    Immigration is an emotionally charged issue that needs to be discussed by open and compassionate people who disagree. Thank you for bringing up an important issue.

  7. When u have followed America’s laws, then post all ur videos on immigration.
    EVERYONE WANTS TO RATIONALIZE WHY IT’S OK TO NOT FOLLOW THE LAWS.

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