Jose Antonio Vargas Defends Decision To Reveal He Is An Undocumented Immigrant (VIDEO)

Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas defended his decision to reveal that he is an undocumented immigrant in an interview with CNN's Howard Kurtz.

Vargas, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who worked at outlets including the San Francisco Chronicle, Washington Post and The Huffington Post. caused a huge stir when he admitted in a New York Times Magazine essay that he is undocumented.

The fallout from the story was swift. Many praised Vargas for his risky decision, while others, such as his former editor, the Chronicle's Phil Bronstein, criticized him for not being honest with them.

Speaking to Kurtz on Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Vargas said that he ultimately felt he had no choice but to come forward.

"I'm one of millions of undocumented people in this country who are living kind of under the shadows," he said. "At the end of the day, I think we have to tell the truth about this immigration system. And because of that, I had to tell the truth about myself."

Kurtz said that Vargas had "deceived" his editors by not telling them about his status.

"I had to do what I had to do to work," Vargas responded. "...Whenever I did talk about it, people told me that I shouldn't be revealing it because then I couldn't work."

Vargas also discussed the Washington Post's rejection of his story after weeks of editing and fact-checking. He said he had first gone to the Post with the story because it had had such an impact on his life and career.

After telling Post publisher Katherine Weymouth that he was "really, really sorry," Vargas said that he asked to write the story for the paper, "because I thought that was the right thing to do."

When the Post passed on the story, Vargas said, he was "surprised."

He also told Kurtz that, despite his revelation and his launch of a campaign about the DREAM Act and immigration reform, he still considers himself a journalist, not an advocate.

WATCH:

Comments

[libertarian101]

03:41 AM on 06/29/2011

He considers himself a journalists. I consider him a liar. strip him of his Prize and ship his as... out of here.

[LaMorena0933]

10:55 PM on 06/28/2011

So in his world. it is ok to lie, get false identification and use the system because as he puts it I need to work.. by that logic can I rob a bank because I need the money or commit any crime because the end justifies the means.. shameful, unlawful and unethical!!

[hereticalamerican]

09:53 AM on 06/29/2011

So why hasn't FOX hired him yet? Oh wait...he's not a white guy.

[Dean77]

07:16 PM on 06/28/2011

No way Jose! Adios!!!

[Viper1st]

02:24 PM on 06/28/2011

Dateline ~ June 28, 2011

"(R-Senator) Chuck Grassley (Iowa) He also pressed Napolitano on whether the administration will offer administrative relief for young men and women who would be eligible for the DREAM Act, an executive power that Democrats have repeatedly asked the president to use."

"Napolitano said President Barack Obama has rejected the idea of using administrative action to stop deportation of DREAM Act-eligible students."

"The policy of the department is there can be no categorical amnesty and there will not be, and that is why Congress needs to act," Napolitano said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/28/dems-push-for-dream-act_n_886044.html

[garylloyd]

11:15 AM on 06/28/2011

Why can't Obama and the other amnesty heads grasp this simple precept?

"The boat is full!"

[silsez]

09:03 AM on 06/28/2011

Political correctness is killing the "Dream Act"? It's finally found a real purpose.

[samba2623]

08:48 AM on 06/28/2011

Why deport this guy ? He speaks English, works hard and had the guts to reveal being undocumented. He obviously pulls the country up.... unlike several legal Americans. Give him a break.

[garylloyd]

10:17 AM on 06/28/2011

We are giving him a break. He could have been here for the next 50 years without issue. But he wants to be a martyr and we should help him achieve this by throwing him in jail and deporting him.

[tandjam]

10:41 AM on 06/28/2011

Instead of 'giving him a break' or some kind of free pass, let's pass the DREAM Act so that some of these people who were brought here as children illegally through no fault of their own will have the opportunity to earn their citizenship over the course of many years through service to our country and/or college education.

[garylloyd]

08:15 AM on 06/28/2011

The guy's becoming a national hero.

And Amnesty folk are saying, "See? That's the face of illegal immigration!"

No, it's not -- but what if it were?

See, that's the problem with you Obamanesty people. You tell us the only solution is to grant the 40 million illegals amnesty, that only by doing that will we resolve the all the other cases.

For how long ...?

Yeah, how long? How long after we grant the 40 million amnesty will 80 million take their place?

Amnesty solves nothing. It didn't solve anything under the Reagan administration in 1986 except send a message to everyone who wants to get here that sneaking across the border is the way to do it.

In the long run Obamnesty won't solve anything.

[mylittlepwny]

08:52 AM on 06/28/2011

Amnesty is only viable if the border is secured.

[Viper1st]

09:18 AM on 06/28/2011

Amnesties have never been granted during a time of high unemployment & recession ~ never at a time when unemployment rate was over 5.0%

May 2011, U.S. Unemployment Rate 9.1%.

Side note ~ since WWII, a seating POTHUS has never won re-election carrying an unemployment rate of greater than 7.2% ~ BHO has 17 months to create jobs to reduce the unemployment rate

[adcan49]

09:06 AM on 06/28/2011

How come you didn't call it "Reaganamnesty"?

[Howard53545]

07:03 AM on 06/28/2011

He had years to get his paper right. Now escort him to the airport and deport him NOW. Send Navy Seals for him.

[tandjam]

07:22 AM on 06/28/2011

Because of the way his mother brought him here when he was 12, it is impossible for him to 'get his papers right.' He would like to get his papers right. That is the point of his story.

[lmab]

08:14 AM on 06/28/2011

Don't attempt to be logical with a fence post.

[garylloyd]

10:19 AM on 06/28/2011

If I had a nickle for every time I heard that one, I'd be as rich as Rockefeller.

Where is Holder?

Why hasn't he tagged and bagged this character?

[MrPositive]

03:17 AM on 06/28/2011

The United States lets 2 million people immigrate legally to the country every year. Then you have the hundreds of thousands who can't be bothered to apply, get in line, and do it legally. They think the rules don't apply to them. They just sneak in and hope for the best, Fortunately for them, they have "advocates" who are lobbying for the DREAM Act, which rewards them for ignoring the US immigration laws by allowing them to becaome citizens, sooner then the many many honest people who have applied legally and are still waiting.

[Impaler]

03:58 AM on 06/28/2011

This regime embraces them, for they are the lawless, in office and in line for services. 2012 is not coming fast enough.

[Vavavoom]

07:22 AM on 06/28/2011

While it is true that most sneak in, you obviously have not bothered to read the Vargas story. There are many like him too.

[MrPositive]

10:13 AM on 06/28/2011

Yes, I reed the story. His parents sneaked him over here illegally. He found out over 10 years ago, when he was 16, and did nothing about it for over a decade. I have no sympathy for him. It's not his fault his parents did that, but every action has consequences. If we pass this DREAM Act, what is to stop everyone from sneaking their kids over illegally, then getting amnesty?

[Party Animal IV]

02:56 AM on 06/28/2011

Why would we want to keep people out of the country? It's foolish, counterproductive and short-sighted. If people want to come here and pay taxes and be new customers for American businesses, pay into and participate in our system, how could that not be good? Twenty or fifty years from now, how will America remain a leader in the world compared to the populations of China and India if we are spending useless effort and money to keep people out? Embrace it. Put them to work. We have tons and tons of room. More American consumers means more business for American companies, and more tax revenues. Let America grow.

[MrPositive]

03:11 AM on 06/28/2011

Do you really not know why the United States can't let in everyone who wants to come?

[themiddleistheproblem]

08:22 AM on 06/28/2011

Tell us......

[mylittlepwny]

08:57 AM on 06/28/2011

Fine, Your country is a dinner table stacked high with the fruits of Your labour, a few extra mouths to feed will not noticeably effect Your standard of living. But if those mouths number in the millions, then it becomes very noticeable, and the amount of food available for each mouth will drop.

[editer]

09:23 AM on 06/28/2011

Actually the dinner table is stacked high with the fruits of immigrant labor. If it were the fruits of your labor, it would be too expensive to put on the table.

[Patrick Hatcher]

02:53 AM on 06/28/2011

When ever the question of illegal immigration comes up in these HP comments sections it doesn’t take long for someone to say something along the line of ‘oh you terrible white people you stole this land from the native Americans; you white people were the first undocumented immigrants etc., etc….’ I answer that by asking this question. Before there was ever European contact with any of the tribes in North American what do you think would often happen when members of one tribe of Native Americans were caught in or were found to be encroaching in the territory of another tribe? How much historical research do you think it would take for me to find incidents where some Indian was horribly tortured to death or was taken as a slave if he were to stray into another tribe’s territory.

[LibDisorder]

08:07 AM on 06/28/2011

F&F

[adcan49]

09:10 AM on 06/28/2011

Try reading "The Unfinished Nation" by Alan Brinkley.

[NamSpurs]

02:10 AM on 06/28/2011

How is not arrested for fraud? He has to stand trial and after serving a sentence (if any), he has to be deported. The dream act has not passed as yet. Currently, his stay is in violation of all applicable US laws. As someone in the US legally for the last 7 yrs trying to obtain a green card, i find this appalling.

[tandjam]

10:30 AM on 06/28/2011

You are lucky your mother didn't bring you here illegally when you were a kid or you would be the one people would be appalled by.

[NamSpurs]

11:00 AM on 06/28/2011

So u agree that the fact he lied for so many years even after becoming an adult...gaining access to the White House, working using fake documents at leading newspapers is appalling.

To me, Dream Act is all good, but before u tackle that issue, legal immigration has to be solved. The endless wait for people already working legally for more than 5-10 years is ridiculous.

[Ramirez]

01:33 AM on 06/28/2011

The guy is a forger as well as an illegal alien.

Put him on a plane to his home country.

[TurnSeiki]

12:52 AM on 06/28/2011

Can we please deport him now? He not only THINKS like a non-American, he IS a non-American.

[Vavavoom]

07:25 AM on 06/28/2011

You obviously think like an American. If you get my point.

[LibDisorder]

08:08 AM on 06/28/2011

Your point is you hate America? Did I guess right?

[TurnSeiki]

10:21 AM on 06/28/2011

Yup. Follow the rule of law just like the rest of us LEGAL citizens.