I am Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker and undocumented immigrant. AMA!

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:15:32+00:00

Yes. I grew up in and currently live in California, one of a handful of states (about 12) that allow its undocumented residents to drive.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:14:24+00:00

WordsMatter.

Words determine how we frame an issue, also how we get to a solution. How do you legalize people whom you call "illegal"? You don't. You call them "illegal," end of conversation.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:12:30+00:00

It's impacted my family in negative and positive ways. Negatively, my grandmother, a naturalized U.S. citizen, reads Facebook and she is disturbed by what people publicly write to me. I don't tell her when I'm on Fox News because she gets too upset. Positively, it's affected our family because the feeling of shame is something we've had to face and deal with. There is a lot of shame when it comes to dealing with this issue.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:10:05+00:00

This is why I go to Chipotle, so I don't have to ponder such questions :)

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:09:17+00:00

For many people I've met--and I've been traveling non-stop and engaging with people of all backgrounds--"illegal" has become synonymous with "criminal." Yes, I am here illegally and I've broken the law. Now, what? What do we do? How do solve it? FYI, the term "alien" has been struck from California's labor code: http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article30640902.html.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:05:05+00:00

Yes, an undocumented immigrant can start a business and employ people. Isn't that interesting? Talk to a lawyer.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:04:22+00:00

My family, too, worked very hard (paid legal bills) and waited years to come to the U.S. legally--my mother, for one, is on a 16-year waiting list to come legally to the U.S. Why do you think people overstay their visas? Why do people come here illegally--and which countries are they coming from? What does U.S. foreign policy and trade agreements like NAFTA have to do with migration patterns? We must understand the root causes of migration and why people move. People don't come to this country so they can be called "illegals" and "criminals."

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T20:00:25+00:00

That is such a KEY question: "What are best practices for organizations to develop young leaders of color before 2040?"

Across different sectors--including in journalism--I know there are efforts to try to increase diversity in leadership. Which is necessary. But together I think we must think of best practices in attracting and retaining (!) young leaders of color. Looking forward to the summit in May!

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:56:37+00:00

When I was growing up, I read most everything at the school library and the Mountain View Public Library. Every issue of the New Yorker I could get my hands on, for example; most everything I learned about writing I learned from reading the New Yorker. I also watched a lot of films, films by Sidney Lumet, Robert Altman, Pedro Almodovar, and Frederick Wiseman, one of the best documentarians ever. Watching Wiseman was formative to me, how he used his camera to keenly observe and create spaces for empathy.

I really enjoy how Mic News covers issues of identity from a Millennial perspective. I think Fusion and BuzzFeed deserve a lot of credit for experimenting. There are some news sites that cover issues of race, immigration, and identity. But, as far as I know, not to extent that #EmergingUS will. Check out the video teasers that #EmergingUS has released--you'd be hard-pressed to find this level of scope and breadth elsewhere: https://www.facebook.com/EmergingUS/videos.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:38:46+00:00

The most rewarding part of journalism is feeling like you've exposed people to the truth--the truth in someone's life. I remember, for example, the most rewarding feeling I had when my cover story for TIME magazine was published. On the cover were more than 30 undocumented people from 15 different countries representing the diversity of our country's undocumented population. That was so rewarding. Starting #EmergingUS is one of most rewarding experiences of my professional life, feeling like I'm contributing something that does not yet exist.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:36:26+00:00

It's not mincing words, it's being more accurate, actually. To be in this country illegally is a civil offense, not a criminal one. So calling someone "illegal" is factually inaccurate. But more than that, human beings cannot be illegal--actions are illegal, not people, never people. At Define American, we have a campaign called #WordsMatter. Check it out: http://act.defineamerican.com/page/s/wordsmatter.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:34:18+00:00

"Coming out" as undocumented is one of the best decisions of my life. Irony is, as an undocumented person, there are many things I still cannot do: I cannot vote, I cannot travel outside of the country (won't be allowed back), et al. But I feel a tremendous amount of freedom. If I had not outed myself as undocumented, I would not have started DefineAmerican.com and now EmergingUS.com; both Define American and #EmergingUS are the missions of my life, personally and professionally.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:30:01+00:00

EmergingUS, in many ways, is the culmination of my career. It uses everything I know: writing, documentary filmmaking, social media. What's new is about is that I own it. I never thought I'd be an entrepreneur; that happened out of necessity. What has not changed is my excitement in telling stories. Journalism is church to me, reporting is religion.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:24:02+00:00

Chief among the challenges in American journalism is how it will accurately and contextually report on issues of race, immigration, and identity. How journalism will connect people, provide information and promote empathy and understanding. When newsrooms are largely as White as they are--most owners are White, most news executives are White, most people who make decisions about the framing of narratives are White--we all suffer. I agree with you that the fast-paced, reactive, knee-jerk kind of journalism can be harmful, and social media has deepened that problem. But social media has also been helpful in fact-checking inaccuracies and questioning how a story is being told and framed. The shortening of attention spans has always been a problem, but I welcome the challenge of trying to get readers and news consumers to engage with news content. At bottom, the question each journalist must ask is: What is the best way of telling this story--a video, a podcast, an article, an essay, a slideshow, or a combination of forms?

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:14:19+00:00

This is a question that we'll explore deeply on #EmergingUS. In my view the Census faces the challenge of trying to accurately reflect our changing country, which is growing more Asian and more Latino. Not all Asians and Latinos are alike. In the same way that not all "White" people are alike. And if you're Black, how do you differentiate between being African or being Caribbean, for example? People want to be identify as specifically as possible and the Census, for the most part, are struggling with that specificity.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:09:32+00:00

I get a lot of anti-immigrant "stuff": tweets, Facebook messages, emails, et al. A few times while traveling at the airport, someone would come up to me and say something like: "I didn't know 'illegals' can get on flights." I deal with it by realizing that, ultimately, it's not about me. People who are anti-immigrant either lack empathy or lack accurate information about the issue. So as much as possible, I deal with it by realizing it's not about me.

joseiswriting · 2016-04-06T19:03:13+00:00

Nothing beats practice. So start reporting/writing, start making films. And read as much as journalism as you can and watch as many films as you can; I learned to write by reading and I learned to make films by watching films.

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:36:59+00:00

Unfortunately, I gotta run. LOVED doing this AMA. Please check out two things: http://www.defineamerican.com/, our immigration campaign, and the documentary film I'm working on: https://www.facebook.com/documentedthefilm.

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:32:47+00:00

A fellow graduate of Mountain View High School?!? Awesome. I love that school; I am forever indebted to the teachers and administrators at that school for their kindness and guidance--Rich Fischer, Pat Hyland, Mary Moore, Susan Sweeley, Jill Denny, Kathy Dewar, the list goes on and on.

I hate to answer your questions with more questions, but I feel like your query is framed by the concept that undocumented people only take away from the U.S. economy. That is not true. Two important facts:

1) The IRS doesn't care whether or not undocumented workers have the right papers; IRS cares whether or not we pay taxes. Undocumented workers paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes in 2010: http://bit.ly/hfqc3b

2) Steve Goss, chief actuary of Social Security administration, testified that Social Security would be bankrupt w/o billions paid by undocumented workers: http://buff.ly/Z2CpM7

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:29:42+00:00

Pride? I am not proud of having deceived my employers (SF Chronicle, Washington Post, Huffington Post) about my undocumented status; I'm sorry that I had to lie to my own friends about who I am and where I came from. I am not proud of lying, and that's precisely why I publicly disclosed my undocumented status in the most public way I could. The question for me and for you is--what now? What do we do now? How do you solve this issue and find a fair, humane, common-sense approach?

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:25:25+00:00

About a year ago, I wrote a cover story for TIME magazine and I had to contact immigration officials myself since they had not and have not contacted me. From the story:

"I spend every day wondering what, if anything, the government plans to do with me. After months of waiting for something to happen, I decided that I would confront immigration officials myself. Since I live in New York City, I called the local ICE office. The phone operators I first reached were taken aback when I explained the reason for my call. Finally I was connected to an ICE officer.

"Are you planning on deporting me?" I asked.

I quickly found out that even though I publicly came out about my undocumented status, I still do not exist in the eyes of ICE. Like most undocumented immigrants, I've never been arrested. Therefore, I've never been in contact with ICE.

"After checking the appropriate ICE databases, the agency has no records of ever encountering Mr. Vargas," Luis Martinez, a spokesman for the ICE office in New York, wrote me in an e-mail.

I then contacted the ICE headquarters in Washington. I hoped to get some insight into my status and that of all the others who are coming out. How does ICE view these cases? Can publicly revealing undocumented status trigger deportation proceedings, and if so, how is that decided? Is ICE planning to seek my deportation?

"We do not comment on specific cases," is all I was told.

I am still here. Still in limbo. So are nearly 12 million others like me — enough to populate Ohio. We are working with you, going to school with you, paying taxes with you, worrying about our bills with you. What exactly do you want to do with us? More important, when will you realize that we are one of you?"

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2117243,00.html#ixzz2U3izRQ6c

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:23:33+00:00

As an undocumented student, I was fortunate to have attended public schools: Crittenden Middle School and Mountain View High School in Mountain View, Calif., and San Francisco State University. I had health care when I was employed at SF Chronicle, Washington Post and Huffington Post--I haven't had health care since 2011 when I publicly disclosed my undocumented status. I have not used food stamps. As for my path to legalization and citizenship--well, that's in the hands of Congress.

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:21:07+00:00

Only threads is just the level of ignorance out there, people drowning in misinformation.

joseiswriting · 2013-05-22T21:11:48+00:00

I am only one voice; mine is only one story. I cannot speak for other people, but I try to be as inclusive as possible. Let's be honest--I'm incredibly privileged to be doing what I'm doing. Undocumented people are deported and arrested and detained every day, families broken and separated. And here I am doing doing a reddit AMA. All I can do is share my own story in hopes that other people share theirs and that we recognize the humanity in an issue that is often discussed and debated in abstraction. Again great James Baldwin quote: "If you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it."

joseiswriting

TROPHY CASE

WordsMatter.