Coming Out – Undocumented and Unafraid

January 20, 2012

Today, stories of coming out. These are the stories of living undocumented in America. We have voices from across the country, and from different walks of life. They are American in every way, but with one exception: papers. Some are high profile like actor and playwright Carlo Alban, or Pulitzer prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas. Others are promising students with dreams of becoming doctors and lawyers wanting to live with dignity and contribute to society.

Jose Antonio Vargas is a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist who at the peak of his career made a decision that shocked the media and politicians. He declared to the world through an essay in the New York Times Magazine: I am undocumented and I am not alone. He tells the story of what led to his decision and what it has meant for him.

Carlo Alban was always a performer at heart. And as a young teen, he got a break as a regular cast member on Sesame Street. And even though it seemed that he was living a dream, he had a secret: he was undocumented. Carlo Alban, now 32, has a one-man show, “Intringulis,” which translates to a snag or difficulty. “Intingulis,” is Carlo’s own coming out story, in which he tackles the struggles of being undocumented, childhood success, and drug use as a teen. Here, Carlo performs an excerpt of the play, live before an intimate audience at Intar Theatre in New York City.

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The stories of Jose Antonio Vargas and Carlos Alban are like so many who grew up in the United States: undocumented, but managing to start careers. And there are also high school and college students who call themselves Dreamers. They are fighting for the Dream Act, which would a grant a passage to citizenship to students and members of the military. For more than a decade, its been an uphill battle to get votes, and in recent years, these students have upped the ante by coming out, publicly and often putting themselves at risk of deportation. We hear from two Dreamers: Lizbeth Mateo and David Cho.

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Ethnic studies programs don’t usually make news headlines, but a controversial law in Arizona that threatens a school district’s Mexican-American studies program, has ricocheted across the country. An Arizona public schools chief ruled this month that the Tucson Mexican-American studies program is divisive and “promotes resentment towards a race or class.” To avoid losing millions in funding, the district is being forced to end its 13-year-old program. For an overview on the latest decision, Maria Hinojosa speaks to Michael Simpson at the National Education Association, and Agustine Romero, founder and director of the Ethnic Studies program in Tucson schools.

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