Cristina DC Pastor
The FilAm
A thunderstorm rolled into New York on June 25, the same day Jose Antonio Vargas swept across the city to proclaim victory for DREAM Act youth.
In early afternoon, he was at Nasdaq to ring the stock market closing bell, then proceeded to tape an interview with Bill O’ Reilly at the FOX News studio to air in the evening. At 6 p.m., he arrived at the New York Immigration Coalition office where he was to speak to media and supporters and sign autographs.
“I think we killed it,” he said, grinning ear to ear, emotional and looking overwhelmed by all the attention as he faced an audience of admiring young students and immigration activists.
He invited the DREAM Act students who appeared with him in a recent TIME Magazine cover to join him as he spoke. Five of them came forward and crowded him at the front of the room. As a group they were cheered and applauded like victorious soldiers coming home from war.
“I guess, we’re no longer called illegal immigrants,” a giddy Jose said quoting a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that “it is not a crime” for undocumented aliens to remain in the U.S. The decision, issued on the same day, reversed some of the controversial provisions of Arizona’s immigration law but also upheld the right of police officers to do random immigration checks on residents.
“This is everybody’s work,” said Jose. “Everybody won.”
He only played a small role, he said, and others were there before him. It is a victory for the NYIC, which has been advocating for immigrants rights for more than two decades, as well as it is for DREAMer Lucy who came out nine years ago, as it is for himself who “joined the conversation” a year ago in a New York Times essay and declared himself — a Pulitzer Award-winning journalist — to be another undocumented immigrant.
The gathering was meant to celebrate their victories, culminating in President Obama moving to end the deportation of undocumented students.
The ceremony at Nasdaq was in recognition of more than a million DREAM Act youths being potential members of the workforce.
The so-called “deferred action” policy – valid for two years and renewable – allows the youth to remain in the U.S. and find employment based on certain requirements.
The policy does not automatically guarantee their eligibility for driver’s licenses and in-state tuition fees, but it allows those in deportation proceedings to get a fresh hearing on their cases.
The policy makes it clear the grant of “deferred action” is temporary and is not a path to citizenship.
Jose said the campaign, since he joined, has managed to “turn the conversation around.” He is still confronted by questions like ‘Why don’t you just go back to the Philippines?’ but he would always respond with, “But I am an American” who knows no other country but the United States.
“He has helped. He became the face of the DREAM Act,” said Mae Lee, director of the Chinese Progressive Association of New York, of Jose’s high-profile involvement with the advocacy campaign.
By telling his own story, Jose personalized the campaign in a compelling way, said Gonzalo Mercado, director of the El Centro del Imigrante in Staten Island. - The FilAm
“Bravisimo”.. for your courageous actions…! Your high profile and involvement with the advocacy campaign to mobilize the “Dream Act” is highly commendable and the liberal and progressive minded Americans support and applaud your effort and commitments.
So what should the US do, just tear down the fence that many illegals see as imaginary anyway? Most of these illegal aliens that the Obama administration sees as victims is a bunch of bull. If they were brought here by their illegal parents as teenagers I can assure you that most of them knew they are coming to this country illegally. Just because Obama says that eight hundred thousand of them will not be deported does’nt make them legal residents of this country. Illegal immigration will not be solved until the southern borders are properly secured. What the US should do is to build a fence secured enough to the point where even a scorpion could not crawl through. Vargas while being interviewed on television was asked about those foreign citizens that had to wait years to come to this country. He said he is willing to go in the back of the line just like anyone who is doing it the proper way. That I would like to see.
May I beg to differ with this news report on Vargas?
Vargas is NOT an “American” as he claims to be. He’s still an ILLEGAL, an ALIEN of this country, undocumented yet. Obama only allowed him and others like him, to stay and work in America temporarily. And their stay here is renewable every two years.
Also, he’s NOT THE Pulitzer Prize winner per se. He was among a group of journalists that covered and wrote that school campus shooting story. It was a joint effort, NOT SOLELY his own work, and for that joint news report, the Pulitzer Prize was bestowed on the group. Not solely on him.
Another thing, as Noah Crisologo said, I also don’t think Vargas would be willing to go the back to the Philippines and get in “the back of the line” like the others who did it and doing it the legal way. I think he’s full of sh_t for saying that.
Jesse Jose
Seattle, WA
JJ, I guess Obama is going to fulfill his promise of creating new jobs for this country. Obama’s administration will be handing out work permits to probably more than 800,000 illegal aliens. Is’nt that wonderful, Americans will again have to go in the back of the line because those who came here illegally will have to fulfill there dreams first. And if you say something negative about this plan, you will be called a racist no matter what your ethnic background is. What is happening to this country? If this administration keep this kind of sh-t up, this country that was once called the greatest nation in the world will cease to exist.