A former Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post reporter who is gay and undocumented has been detained in Texas by U.S. Border Patrol agents.Â
Jose Antonio Vargas last night shared this on his Facebook page:
Before I go to bed tonight, I will think of this quote, which my dear friend Cristina Jimenez shared with me: “It is okay to be vulnerable, because when you are vulnerable, you are innocent. Innocence is our gift from God.”
This morning in McAllen, Texas U.S. Border Patrol agents detained him for being an undocumented immigrant.
Vargas, 33, is a powerful voice and a familiar face in the undocumented immigrant community. He is also gay.
As a reporter for the Washington Post, he was part of the team who were awarded a Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the 2008 Virginia Tech shooting. In 2011, Vargas penned a New York Times Magazine essay, coming out as an undocumented immigrant.
Born in the Phillippines, Vargas came to the United States in 1993, at the age of 12. He only learned of his undocumented status in 1997. In 1999 he came out as gay, while still in high school.
In 2011 Vargas founded an immigration activist group, Define American.
Vargas, according to Mashable, “had traveled to McAllen to document the crisis at the United States’ southern border, working with the group United We Dream, which supports young immigrants.”
On United We Dream’s Ustream channel, a spokesman explained Vargas’ situation to approximately 80 viewers who were watching after seeing the reports of Vargas’ arrest on Twitter.
“Unfortunately,†the spokesman said, “one of us has gone down.â€
“It is Jose Antonio Vargas. He was arrested and detained at the McAllen Airport and taken into custody by the U.S. Border Patrol.â€
Mashable adds that “Vargas was in the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday where he was documenting the crisis at America’s southern border.”
Once he arrived, however, Vargas realized it would be impossible to leave the area unquestioned. There are at least four borders in McAllen — Mexico, the ocean and two border checkpoints to the north.
“People cannot travel out of these four borders and we are stuck. You cannot take a bus. You cannot take a plane,†the unnamed spokesperson said on the live stream. “Jose has just proved this.â€
Vargas sent this tweet last night:
Standing along the Rio Grande River (the Rio Bravo) as the sun sets. pic.twitter.com/5ZjTLWR3Yy
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) July 15, 2014
And these tweets this morning:
About to go thru security at McAllen Airport. I don’t know what’s going to happen. For updates follow @DefineAmerican & @MAC_UTPA
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) July 15, 2014
The only IDs I have for security: Philippine passport and my pocketbook US Constitution @DefineAmerican & @MAC_UTPA pic.twitter.com/IFH0Vb4oX7
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) July 15, 2014
Huffington post reporter Ryan Grim tweeted this photo and commentary:
Here’s a photo of @joseiswriting in handcuffs, because the Border Patrol has nothing more pressing to do apparently pic.twitter.com/dN8KewqeZr
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) July 15, 2014