Many Filipino immigrants who watched Jose Antonio Vargas’ ‘Documented’ on CNN saw similarities between their stories and Vargas’. Namely, the feelings of fear and isolation of having to hide their true identities. But, for Filipino immigrants interviewed by GMA recently, the similarities end there (Photo by Krystal Nurse).
“Jose is lucky. So far, all has been good, and opportunities opened up for him. He has not been deported or locked up. But for the common people like us who are undocumented? What’s going to happen?”
This came from a cashier named by GMA as Lourdes Mendoza. She said that while the film helped her realize that her feelings of desolation as an undocumented immigrant were shared by 11 million other individuals, she still felt that Vargas’ circumstances were different.
These circumstances include the fact that Jose Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. As a public figure with no criminal record, it’s unlikely he would be deported after coming forward with his story. But, for a regular undocumented immigrant in the same situation, this would not be the case.
According to the New York Times, President Obama is expected to tackle immigration reform this summer; specifically to change deportation policies in cases where deportations separate established families. Until then, Filipinos like Mendoza await their fates in the United States.
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