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MV's Vargas: America's most famous undocumented immigrant
MVHS grad shared his story to reframe national debate on immigration policy

by Daniel DeBolt

Following his startling personal story in The New York Times magazine, Mountain View's Pulitzer Prize-winner Jose Antonio Vargas has apparently pulled off the impossible over the last few weeks, starting a fresh conversation on radio and television about immigration in the U.S.

Vargas' story has now been widely told. Vargas was brought from the Philippines to live with his grandparents in the U.S. by a coyote posing as his uncle at age 13, and he has not seen his mother since. He realized his situation only when his fake green card was rejected when he tried to get a driver's license in high school.

Vargas met with the Voice on Monday before his sold-out talk at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, and discussed what has happened over the last few weeks.

A former Mountain View High School student and Voice intern, Vargas, has put his face on the nation's immigration conversation in appearances on CNN, Fox News, NPR and Rachel Maddow's MSNBC show. He was scheduled to appear on the Colbert Report on Thursday, after the Voice went to press.

Everything was going well for Vargas before he revealed his immigration status. He had recently interviewed Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for the New Yorker and had written 600 articles for the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle, including one about the Virginia Tech massacre for which he shared a Pulitzer.

"All you can really do is live as honestly as you can," Vargas said. "That's what I'm doing. That's what's in it for me. Walking away from The New York Times building on Eighth Avenue, knowing the article was closed, I just started skipping around. People probably thought I was nuts. I can't even describe to you the feeling of liberation."

"I have so internalized all of this and I have, like, blocked it in the corner of my mind," Vargas said. "Once I unlocked it in my head, it's almost as if I've been getting to know myself in a completely different way. I had gotten lost in telling other people's stories; it's all I've ever done."

Vargas saw that he was in a position to help many others like him. He's heard from many of them in the last three weeks, including one with a law degree who has been busing tables for four years. "My heart just breaks for them," Vargas said. The United States is "all about dreaming big, (and) you are basically telling people, 'Oops, sorry, you can't.'"

With many undocumented immigrants brought here as children being educated in the U.S., "I would think the country would want to get their investment back," Vargas said.

A difficult situation

By the time he spoke with a lawyer, it was too late. "I checked boxes I wasn't supposed to check," on employment applications, Vargas said, explaining why he would have difficulty applying for citizenship in the U.S. It was recommended that he move back to the Philippines for 10 years before coming back to apply again. His mentors advised against that, including former Mountain View High School superintendent Rich Fisher, who told him "keep going," Vargas recalls. "If he would have said, 'leave,' I would have done it."

Similarly, Peter Pearl, an editor at the Washington Post who knew about his situation, decided to support Vargas rather than report him. "If he would have told me 'We have to report you now,' I would have said, 'Okay,'" Vargas said. "I am really indebted to these American citizens who decided to help me out."

Vargas said last year he briefly considered quietly moving to Canada to obtain citizenship there. Instead, he invited friends and family from around the country to an Indian restaurant in San Francisco for his 30th birthday party, where it was made clear that his next big move might get him deported.

Vargas has received no indication from authorities about whether that could happen, but he has a team of volunteer lawyers who are "ready for anything and everything that could happen. I'm not driving anymore. I can't be jaywalking. I just have to be careful."

Addressing his opponents

Ultimately, Vargas does not have a policy recommendation, just a strong belief that the conversation on immigration needs to be "reframed" and "elevated."

As journalists, "we have to talk to people who don't agree with us," Vargas said. "I'm actually looking forward to having a civil dialogue with people who think that I should just be deported or think of me as a threat. I would not have done what I have done if I thought I would just be preaching to the choir. I did not put myself in my situation just so I could get a round of applause from people who already believe what I believe."

Vargas said he personally wrestled with the question of whether or not he has taken jobs away from American citizens. When he won his internship at the Washington Post, he called one of his mentors, former Mountain View High School principal Pat Hyland, and said, "Did I take somebody else's job?"

"Pat actually laughed at me," Vargas said. "She said, 'Stop thinking that way, you earned this.'"

"I got to where I got through hard work and merit," Vargas said. People think "my existence threatens your existence, when really it doesn't."

Vargas said he formed his non-profit, Define American, while planning to reveal his story in order to maximize the impact he could have in the country's debate on immigration. He said he doesn't expect legislators to pass immigration reform anytime soon, but he will be making sure it is discussed in the next presidential race, in which he will not be a reporter, but someone raising the issues.

A longer version of this story, along with a video of the interview, may be found at mv-voice.com.

Email Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com

Posted by PH, a resident of another community, on Jul 15, 2011 at 8:47 am

It is past time for immigration reform and our government needs to put a plan in action instead of ignoring the issue. We have to solve the problem going forward with real thought to the consequences. The people charged with the power to fix things work for the citizens and do not get to ignore the issue as this only makes it worse. What is the message to everyone when you hide the truth and deceive the public? Each case is different and needs a careful resolution, but there are many people that could clearly and quickly be dealt with. You can't solve a problem if you don't start to work on it. Deport the obviously non-contributing people first and use the time needed to work on the cases that require some thought. If a person comes here illegally and knowingly, they are wrong from the time they cross the border and if they are doing it for criminal reasons they should pay the price. We can't sustain the cost of immigration the way it exists now and need laws that address the modern problems that come with it. We also need to realize that imported labor does lots of work we don't think we should have to. We can't have it both ways. With immigration reform we will have to step up to the task at hand and our businesses need to find ways to make things work. They could hire those who are over-qualified but willing to work and let things settle out in the end. People need work, the nation needs to solve its problems and we need to make the tough calls and live with the outcome. It used to be easier, but when did we start running from difficult situations, instead we used to love the challenges. We've got big ones, so let's get to work before it's too late.