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Thread: Why is Jose Antonio Vargas allowed to flaunt U.S. immigration law?

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  1. #11
    MW
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    Jose Antonio Vargas: Trump could deport me. That's why I attended his speech to Congress.



    • By Jose Antonio Vargas
      The Washington Post
    • Mar 2, 2017


    This is my country, too.


    That's why I decided show up and bear witness to President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of Congress. Whether the Trump administration and his allies on Capitol Hill realize it or not — whether our elected officials are willing to face irrefutable facts and the human stories behind them — undocumented immigrants live in all parts of the country, and we help make America great.


    During Trump's speech, I sat in the gallery of the House's hallowed chamber alongside other immigrants whose lives are directly affected by Trump's executive orders, at the invitation of House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California. I grew up in the San Francisco area and for years lived in Pelosi's district. But my decision to accept her invitation was not made lightly, considering the terror that the Trump administration has inflicted on immigrant families. As the country's "most famous illegal alien," as Lou Dobbs once called me, some of the lawyers advising me suggested I lie low. "Don't go on cable news as much," they said. "Let's see how all of this shakes out." My 79-year-old grandmother took it one step further. Shortly after the election, my lola ("grandmother" in Tagalog) asked me to go into some kind of hiding.


    "I am done hiding," I told her.

    I decided to show up Tuesday night because that's what immigrants, undocumented and documented, do: We show up. Despite the obvious risks and palpable fear, we show up to work, to school, to church, to our communities, in big cities and rural towns. We show up, and we participate. This joint session of Congress was a quintessential American moment at a critical juncture in our history. I was honored to attend and remind our elected leaders and everyone watching that immigration, at its core, is about families and love — the sacrifices of our families, and the love that we feel for a country we consider our home although it labels us "aliens."


    We show up even though we're unwanted, even when most Americans don't understand the pull-push factors of migration and why we come here in the first place. (No discussion of Trump's "America First" worldview can be complete without first examining how U.S. foreign policy and trade agreements affect why people move.) We show up even though many Americans, especially white Americans with their own immigrant backgrounds, can't seem to see the common threads between why we show up and why they showed up, at a time when showing up did not require visas and the Border Patrol didn't exist yet.


    Our presence inside the Capitol in front of Trump is among the everyday acts of resistance that we are witnessing across the country. There are the undocumented workers showing up in industries that depend on our labor, including the more than 100 workers nationwide who lost their jobs while participating in A Day Without Immigrants protests. Undocumented students are showing up in high school classrooms and on college campuses. Others are in places that have made it clear that "illegals" are not wanted there. And undocumented parishioners are seeking refuge in places of worship, like Jeanette Vizguerra, the mother of four who has found sanctuary inside the First Unitarian Church in Denver. ("Supposedly, I am a criminal because I drove without a license, because I had expired stickers on my car, because I had false documents to work and put food on the table for my children," Vizguerra has said.) When our bodies are seen as mere "labor," when our presence is broadly "criminalized," our very existence is an act of resistance.


    Our existence is a repudiation of the myths, misinformation and outright lies that many Americans wrongly believe about this country's undocumented population.


    The myth is that we are a burden to society, taxing welfare and social services. The reality is that undocumented workers pay billions in state and federal taxes and contribute billions more to Social Security. The Social Security Administration estimates that undocumented workers have paid $100 billion in paycheck deductions over the past decade. We pay into the system even though we won't benefit from it.

    The myth is that we pose a threat to national security and cause harm and danger in communities — a myth that Trump perpetuated throughout his campaign and continued to push Tuesday night, when half of his guests in the House chamber were relatives of people killed by undocumented immigrants. The reality is that study after study shows that immigrants are less likely to commit crimes and be incarcerated than native-born Americans.


    The myth is that the "crisis" of immigration is all about Mexico and building that great, big, beautiful wall. The reality is that at least 40 percent of the undocumented population arrived legally and overstayed their visas, and that the fastest-growing undocumented population is Asian immigrants. I'm from the Philippines; my wall was the Pacific Ocean, and I crossed it simply by getting on an airplane. Like me, the majority of the adult undocumented population has lived in the United States for more than 10 years.

    The myth is that we are making a mockery of this country's laws and openly flaunting our illegality. "Why can't you just get legal and become a citizen?" is among the questions I am most frequently asked, both by people who want me deported and people who consider me as American as them. It's a question that strikes at the core of deep-seated ignorance that many citizens have of this complex issue. The reality is that demands to "get legal" and "become a citizen" are just as complicated, depending on each immigrant's own specific circumstances, as our outdated immigration system, which Congress has not reformed since the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986.


    The myth is that there are "good immigrants" and "bad immigrants," as if people are easily divisible and definable as "illegal" and "legal," when the reality is that definitions we use and divisions we make speak to the inhumanity of a broken system.


    Am I a "good immigrant" because I am more assimilated (whatever that means) and speak better English than my lola — who, by the way, is a U.S. citizen? Millions of American citizens like mylola live in households with undocumented family members. How do you separate undocumented Americans who were brought illegally to the United States as children from their undocumented parents, who risked everything so their kids could have a better future? If we are to "show great heart," as Trump has said, to the DREAMers (named after a bill that Congress never passed called the DREAM Act), shouldn't we also show our heart and offer our gratitude to their parents? When Trump promises to "fight for the safety of every American" and protect the American people first, is he referring to the U.S. citizens whose undocumented parents face detention and deportation because of his executive orders?


    I carried these questions with me as I sat in the gallery. I also carried the generosity of Americans — of all races and backgrounds, all political persuasions — who, in my nearly 24 years in this country, never needed laws or pieces of papers to treat me as a human being, as if I were one of their own. Undocumented people like me rely on our allies in innumerable ways. My showing up on Tuesday night was possible partly because my allies always showed up for me. My showing up on Tuesday night was about the kind of citizenship that is not limited by documents and laws.


    Shortly after I arrived in the United States in 1993, during one of my middle-school classes, I learned that the Capitol building is considered the "People's House." On Tuesday night, as we undocumented immigrants are every night across this country, I was one of the people in this house.



    Jose Antonio Vargas, a former Washington Post reporter, is the founder of Define American.

    http://pilotonline.com/opinion/colum...968aad60c.html




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  2. #12
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    Oh it's just sickening. Where are the parents? Hasn't ICE hunted them down yet? Need to round up the whole family and get them out of here.
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
    Save America, Deport Congress! - Judy

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  3. #13
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    Vargas was born in Antipolo[9] in the Philippines. In 1993, when Vargas was twelve, his mother sent him to live with his grandparents in the U.S. without obtaining authorization for him to stay in the country permanently; his grandparents were naturalized U.S. citizens.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Antonio_Vargas
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  4. #14
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    He should have gone home to the Phillipines to be with his family a long time ago. I just saw a special on CNN about the Philippines, on Anthony Bourdain show, Phillipines is very nice country. Wonderful people. He would be very happy and successful there. They need good journalism.
    A Nation Without Borders Is Not A Nation - Ronald Reagan
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  5. #15
    Moderator Beezer's Avatar
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    ICE needs to get him out of here. He is a trouble maker and a big mouth. We have enough people like you already.

    Get him out!
    ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE "BROKEN" OUR IMMIGRATION SYSTEM

    DO NOT REWARD THEM - DEPORT THEM ALL

  6. #16
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    8 Reasons Why Jose Antonio Vargas Won't Be Deported

    JENNA MCLAUGHLINJUL. 16, 2014 5:00 AM



    The Opportunity Agenda/Flickr


    On Tuesday morning, Jose Antonio Vargas, one of the most prominent and vocal undocumented immigrants in the United States, was detained at a Texas airportafter traveling there to report on the plight of unaccompanied minors crossing the border. The Border Patrol took him into custody when he showed them a Filipino passport and no other form of identification. This was one of the few times Vargas, who self-identifies as the "most privileged" undocumented immigrant in the US, has had that privilege seriously questioned. He was released on Tuesday evening and issued a statement through his nonprofit organization, Define American:

    I've been released by Border Patrol. I want to thank everyone who stands by me and the undocumented immigrants of south Texas and across the country. Our daily lives are filled with fear in simple acts such as getting on an airplane to go home to our family.

    Vargas reminds those watching his case that he is representative of so many more undocumented children. But there are also many reasons why his is a special case—and why he won't be deported:


    1. He's a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a celebrity.
    2. He's been detained, and released, before: Two years ago, a year after he revealed his status as an undocumented Filipino immigrant, Vargas was driving through Minneapolis without a legal license while wearing headphones,according to MinnPost. Although the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office was signed up for a Bush administration initiative called Secure Communities that encourages local law enforcement to hold booked undocumented immigrants for ICE, Vargas was released after roughly five hours. It's unclear how much information authorities had about Vargas' citizenship, though MinnPost points out that it was unusual for police to haul him in, given that those suspected of driving without a license tend to be issued a citation on the scene.
    3. He's dared the ICE to deport him, and it did nothing: As Vox points out, Vargas essentially surrendered to the feds in 2012 when he called ICE and "asked what the government wanted to do with him." The agency declined to comment. Technically, they can come knocking anytime they want to deport him, and they have not done so.
    4. He's not a priority: The Obama administration claims it prioritizes cases having to do with "national security, public safety, and border security," including repeat offenders who have crossed the border after deportation, convicted criminals, and "recent border crossers." Vargas doesn't fit these descriptions, considering he's been convicted of no crime and has lived in the United States since he was 12 years old. (Though CBP has its own policies on what constitutes a recent border crosser, prioritizing any unauthorized entry regardless of how long ago it occurred.)
    5. The courts are already backlogged: As MoJo's Stephanie Mencimer wrote earlier this week, immigration courts are drowning in cases, especially with the sudden influx of unaccompanied minors. There are currently 30 vacancies on the immigration bench, dozens more judges eligible for retirement, and a backlog of 375,503 cases—up 50,000 since 2013. A case like Vargas' could've sat around for years before it was addressed.
    6. Prosecutorial discretion might have favored him anyway: Even if Vargas' case were taken up by ICE, the government could have chosen at any time not to proceed. ICE can waive deportation in cases where a defendant has "positive priorities," including status as a veteran, longtime US residency, a degree from a US college or university, or even just "ties to the United States," including a "role in the community" or "work as a volunteer." Vargas arrived as an undocumented minor and was unaware of his status until he was older. He's been a journalist since he was 17. He's a graduate of San Francisco State University. And now he's the founder of nonprofit advocacy group Define American. Not only does he fit many of the positive criterion, he doesn't fit into the clearly defined "negative" categories: He is not a clear threat to national security, a gang member, or a convicted criminal.
    7. He has a slew of lawyers, immigration groups, and public figures supporting him: Chris Rickerd, a policy council expert in the American Civil Liberties Union, says Vargas' "equities are such that he should be allowed to continue his stay in the US." Cristina Jimenez, a representative of the youth immigration group United We Dream, declared in a statement: "We stand in solidarity with Jose Antonio and demand for his immediate release, but we must remember that there are thousands of people along the border that live with this same fear every day." New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio alsoannounced his support for Vargas in a public statement Tuesday, describing him as an "exemplary man whose tireless work has helped raise awareness around the lives of millions of undocumented immigrants living on American soil" and encouraging authorities to use discretion when it came to his case.
    8. He'd be a giant headache when the government already has plenty. (See also No. 1.) We'll just have to see if the outcry over Vargas' release would be any less of a headache for the Obama administration than his deportation might have been.


    http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2014/07/jose-antonio-vargas-released-texas-immigration

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  7. #17
    Senior Member JohnDoe2's Avatar
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    That article from 2014 says why Obama won't deport Vargas.

    But why is Trump afraid to deport him?
    NO AMNESTY

    Don't reward the criminal actions of millions of illegal aliens by giving them citizenship.


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  8. #18
    Senior Member lorrie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by MW View Post
    Supposedly, according to the article above, he already has a court order to appear before an immigration judge. That order was issued over 2 years ago. If I was AG Sessions, I'd see that the date was expedited. As the new Attorney General, I believe that is within Sessions realm of responsibility.



    MW, ICE apparently was fed up with recent antics from several illegal alien activist hitting the news cycles making demands
    and ICE responded with them being detained and processed for deportation.

    With my fingers crossed, I am hoping ICE has the same frustration with this guy and aggressively goes after him.


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  9. #19
    MW
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2 View Post
    That article from 2014 says why Obama won't deport Vargas.

    But why is Trump afraid to deport him?
    I don't know, maybe you can tell me?

    Seriously, I guess they have to wait until his immigration court ruling comes down. Of course it's been over two years since he was given a court date. No idea when his actual court date is and as far as I can tell he isn't saying.

    As I said in an earlier post, Attorney General Sessions needs to expedite his immigration court date!

    "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" ** Edmund Burke**

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  10. #20
    Senior Member lorrie's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JohnDoe2 View Post
    That article from 2014 says why Obama won't deport Vargas.

    But why is Trump afraid to deport him?


    Flaunting his face all over TV bragging how he violates immigration laws and at the same time demanding
    benefits only encourages others to break the law and not fear being picked up for deportation.

    Our government needs to show lawlessness will not be tolerated and politics does not give waivers.


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