A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has sparked a debate on the plight of illegal immigrants in the United States by publicly declaring himself as one in the pages of the New York Times.
Jose Antonio Vargas (30), one of the reporters who work on coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings that won the Pulitzer Prize in 2008, has worked with the Washington Post, Huffington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, among others.
As a respected journalist, Vargas had dealings with some of America’s foremost figures, particularly during the 2008 presidential election, when he had access to Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee.
“I visited the White House, where I interviewed senior aides and covered a state dinner - and gave the Secret Service the Social Security number I obtained with false documents,” he wrote.
The revelation is part of an awareness campaign seeking to reform immigration law.
Vargas revealed yesterday he moved to the United States at the age of 12 with the help of a “coyote” - a criminal expert in smuggling people past immigration – for $4,500 (€3,166). He did not discover his illegal status until he applied for his driver’s licence at the age of 16.
“When I handed the clerk my green card as proof of US residency, she flipped it around, examining it. ‘This is fake,’ she whispered. “Don’t come back here again.”
Vargas has been using a fake social security number ever since. "I'm done running. I'm exhausted. I don't want that life anymore," he wrote in the Times.
While there has been huge support for Vargas in the online community, he has also been criticised for his secrecy by a former employer.
"Jose lied to me and everyone else he worked for, and that's not kosher, especially in a profession where facts and, more elusively, the truth are considered valuable commodities," wrote Phil Bronstein, editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, on his blog.
Vargas unveiled the news as part of the “Define American” campaign, which is raising awareness and putting pressure on politicians to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which aims to improve immigration legislation for children living in the United States illegally.
He said that he was taking legal advice and did not know what the consequences of his disclosure would be. “I’m American - I just don’t have the right papers."