Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Comes Out As An 'Illegal Alien' in the Times

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas announced to the world that he is an undocumented immigrant last June…

Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Jose Antonio Vargas comes out about his legal status in a story published by the New York Times

Since his ‘coming out’ he has founded an organization called ‘Define American‘ which seeks to spark public debate by asking the question ‘what is American’. Like many Americans, I celebrated Thanksgiving with my family and close friends, who happen to be of mixed legal status. I found myself asking this same question, what is American? Here is a little about Jose Antonio Vargas, the accomplished journalist who is one of the many Americans that I call ‘non-citizen Americans’ and who are also sadly known as ‘illegals’.

Jose Antonio Vargas speaking at Campus Progress

Vargas has attained jobs and internships at The Washington Post, New Yorker Magazine, Rolling Stone Magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Huffington Post, and the Philadelphia Daily News (just to name a few). While writing for the Washington Post,  Vargas won a shared Pulitzer Prize for journalism after reporting on the deadly Virginia Tech Shootings.  Soon after accepting a position at the Huffington Post, Vargas wrote a series on HIV/AIDS. The series was later turned into an award-winning documentary The Other City and is now being picked up by showtime (due to air December 1).

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Also, click here to make sure to read the original story that Vargas wrote for the New York Times where he made a public declaration about his legal status!

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