Forms of appeal

Jose Antonio Vargas is mainly interested in communicating his personal experiences about the kind of fear and anxiety illegal immigrants live with every day, in order to help the readers empathize with their position. Thus, it makes sense that the dominant forms of appeal in the text are ethos and pathos. 

Ethos

The article includes several appeals to trust and authority, as Vargas wants to make himself and other people he mentions appear trustworthy, skilled, caring, or knowledgeable.

The details he presents about DACA help Vargas come across as knowledgeable on the topic. The author’s knowledge and experience are further suggested via references to his own personal background as an illegal immigrant:

[She] told me that she couldn’t offer me a summer internship because I am in the United States illegally. I later made my way to Seattle just so that I could look her in the eye and ask that she not share my secret. (ll. 14-16)

In another instance, Vargas also appears caring as he mentions being happy for DACA beneficiaries ...