Driver’s License Symbol Analysis

Jose Antonio Vargas’s Oregon driver’s license, long his “only piece of government-issued identification,” represents the power of documentation in modern society and the practical hurdles that undocumented immigrants face in order to live dignified lives in the United States. While legal papers are often the only thing separating undocumented immigrants from U.S. citizens and permanent residents, they have far-reaching consequences. Vargas couldn’t get a job or internship without lying about his citizenship status, and once he did, he still needed a driver’s license. After researching all 50 states’ laws, he learned that his only chance was to pretend to live in Oregon, then actually go to Portland for his driver’s test. He managed to do it, but it would have been impossible without the help of his “white family,” including Pat Hyland, Rich Fischer, and Mary Moore. But years later, when Vargas’s license was about to expire, he started wondering if he would even be able to continue working as a journalist without his documents. Thus, while his license granted him a temporary, precarious kind of acceptance in the U.S., it could never substitute for citizenship.