From the Other Side

Who is José Antonio Vargas?

In the most important newspapers in the United States, a story was published that sparked curiosity, and the most common comments in public opinion uncover the major weakness of the country’s immigration system. José Antonio Vargas is a young journalist who has worked in some of the most outstanding publications. Together with a group of reporters from The Washington Post, he won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his story about a massacre of students in a university in the state of Virginia. A few weeks ago in The New York Times, José Antonio related his experience as a migrant from the Philippines.

In 1993, when he was 12, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in the United States. He graduated elementary, middle and high school with honors, and this permitted him to obtain a scholarship to study journalism at San Francisco State University, where he graduated as a distinguished student. Years earlier, at 16, when he tried to get his driver’s license, he got the surprise of his life when he was told that his identification documents were fake. His grandparents never told him that the documents with which he entered the country were false. He had no choice but to continue pretending to be a legal resident and overcome the obstacles for studying and getting work in different publications, including the San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post and New Yorker Magazine.

A few weeks ago, when it came time to renew his driver’s license, he decided that he would not go through the trouble, stress and indignity of using false documents, and he reported his situation. As stated, he did well to highlight the need to promote the passage of the legislation known as the DREAM Act, which would grant citizenship to thousands of undocumented people who came to the U.S. as children and have attended college or served in the Army.

His remarks have caused the most diverse reactions. There are those who disapprove of his actions, accusing him of being a criminal, and others who consider him a hero for having the courage to tell his story as a way to help those who have gone through the same ordeal.

The Obama government faces the decision of continuing to deport young people who, like him, were not responsible for having come to the country as children, who identify as Americans and know no other country outside of the USA, or requiring the approval of legislation that allows them to live with the same rights as every other citizen. With love for Yamil at the beginning of his odyssey.