Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas reveals he's an illegal immigrant

[Misery]

A PULITZER Prize-winning journalist who covered the Virginia Tech massacre has gone public with a secret he has been keeping for nearly two decades: He is an illegal immigrant. Jose Antonio Vargas, whose mother sent him from the Philippines to live with his grandparents in California when he was 12, says that now he wants to push Congress to pass a bill called the DREAM Act that would allow people like him to become citizens if they go to college or serve in the military.
"I'm done running. I'm exhausted," Vargas wrote in a New York Times Magazine essay posted online today. "I don't want that life anymore."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/ma...general&src=me

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226080524041

Should corporations that hired him be fined? Should he be expelled back to Philippines, is he any different then millions of other aliens?

[Tyler_the_Great]

He (and all illegal aliens) should be branded like cattle and shipped out of the USA. The company should also be fined.

[Haldred]

He (and all illegal aliens) should be branded like cattle and shipped out of the USA. The company should also be fined.

You are such a compassionate person, I admire you.

[removeduser_487563287433]

He (and all illegal aliens) should be branded like cattle and shipped out of the USA. The company should also be fined.

Right. We should "brand" people and fine companies who do not know they're illegal immigrants?

I'd say we just swap him with people with views like this.

[Count of Montesano]

The USA has for centruries been a land of freedom, where you can migrate and build you life in liberty. Shouldn't it remain that way? Isn't that the whole meaning of the USA, a country with true liberty - which means a libertarian state? If you ask me, the USA shouldn't have bordercontrol at all.

I agree with you that the US could adopt an immigration policy more in line with its labor needs. That being said, the border control is also there to keep out terrorists and dangerous criminals, and to help keep Mexico's drug war from pouring over the border.

Right. We should "brand" people and fine companies who do not know they're illegal immigrants?

I'd say we just swap him with people with views like this.

America has a very progressive stance towards illegal immigrants compared to many other countries. Mexican police regularly beat illegal immigrants they catch coming north from Latin America, and cases of gang rape and murder by authorities are not uncommon. You can face a long prison sentence if you sneak into Japan or China, and you'll face severe corporal punishment if you're caught in Singapore. Even the supposedly enlightened Scandinavian countries have very harsh immigration policies. Yet somehow, America always gets a black eye even though in most cases illegal immigrants are quickly deported, provided they're not wanted for any other crime.

[Arch]

Even the supposedly enlightened Scandinavian countries have very harsh immigration policies

I lol'd

[Ancient Aliens]

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/26/ma...general&src=me

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226080524041

Should corporations that hired him be fined? Should he be expelled back to Philippines, is he any different then millions of other aliens?

What the is he talking about? He wants people who have recieved a college education while illegal to become citizens??? What makes college educated individuals any more superior than the millions of illegal immigrants that have come into our country?

And besides, serving in the military already grants one citizenship...

[humvee2800]

What the is he talking about? He wants people who have recieved a college education while illegal to become citizens??? What makes college educated individuals any more superior than the millions of illegal immigrants that have come into our country?

Provides useful skills and knowledge that can benefit the states "knowledge" based economy, over an uneducated migrant.

[Admiral Piett]

Provides useful skills and knowledge that can benefit the states "knowledge" based economy, over an uneducated migrant.

They still broke the law and jumped in front of the people that can wait years to lawfully migrate.

[Armenum]

What the is he talking about? He wants people who have recieved a college education while illegal to become citizens??? What makes college educated individuals any more superior than the millions of illegal immigrants that have come into our country?

And besides, serving in the military already grants one citizenship...

Well maybe if one attends a reputable college and makes something out of himself after it - citizenship should be strongly considered.

[Manco]

On one hand having gone to college means he potentially took the place of someone else, on the other hand if the money has already been spent to educate him, it'd be a waste to kick him out now.

[Admiral Piett]

I'm not sure about this particular person's case (he didn't even know he was not a citizen until he tried to get a driver's license), but I do find it ridiculous that some illegal immigrants are able to go to college at cost to the taxpayer. That's just not fair at all.

[Sphere]

Current US immigration policy is not in line with economic reality. The arbitrary 700,000 per year number is about half of what the US economy demands annually in terms of labor, and so has an enormous waiting list. This means 500,000 - 1,000,000 people illegally immigrate per year.

So why have we kept the cap at 700,000? Can anyone give a legitimate reason why it shouldn't be updated to 1.5 million, or at least a guest worker program to account for the currently untracked 700,000? One way or another the economic forces are going to win, and immigration is going to be ~1.5 million a year, the only question is do we want them to be legal or illegal.

[mrmouth]

Current US immigration policy is not in line with economic reality.

It's not in line with any reality. I absolutely want illegal immigrants who have a degree they received in the US, to be granted citizenship in the US.

Are you trying to say the US has a labor shortage

Specific kinds of labor, hell yes. And that effects the prices at the store for everyone.

[the_mango55]

Current US immigration policy is not in line with economic reality. The arbitrary 700,000 per year number is about half of what the US economy demands annually in terms of labor, and so has an enormous waiting list. This means 500,000 - 1,000,000 people illegally immigrate per year.

So why have we kept the cap at 700,000? Can anyone give a legitimate reason why it shouldn't be updated to 1.5 million, or at least a guest worker program to account for the currently untracked 700,000? One way or another immigration economic forces are going to win, and immigration is going to be ~1.5 million a year, the only question is do we want them to be legal or illegal.

Are you trying to say the US has a labor shortage

[Sphere]

Are you trying to say the US has a labor shortage

Labor markets are going to flucuate, but yes current immigration law is insufficient to meet the demands of the various labor markets in the US. That is why illegal migration across the borders is still in the hundreds of thousands a year.

[Admiral Piett]

I wouldn't mind loosing the regulation on Mexican immigration. The legal immigrants here that speak our language are great people. My girlfriend is one of them. It would certainly help curb the desire to swim across the river or jump the fence and risk the open desert.

[(s)AINT]

Who is this guy again?

[mrmouth]

some dude

[Border Patrol]

Legal immigration should be made easier. Problem solved.