Film, as any immigrant will tell you, television and movies is the way we make sense of America when we first got here. Jose Antonio Vargas More Quotes by Jose Antonio Vargas More Quotes From Jose Antonio Vargas The only reason I became a writer was so I could exist on a piece of paper. Jose Antonio Vargas pieces paper reason Independent of politics, the changing narrative on immigration is directly correlated to the fact that we have new technologies that are allowing people to talk to each other and tell their own stories and organize themselves. Jose Antonio Vargas independent technology people I'm not a politician. I'm not a policy wonk. I was a political reporter, but that's not really what turns me on. What turns me on is how people perceive the issue and how people see people like me. Jose Antonio Vargas issues political people I grew up in newsrooms. I've been in newsrooms since I was 17 years old. Journalism has been like my church; it's been like my identity. Jose Antonio Vargas church identity years A friend said to me I'm like a walking New Yorker article. It's true! That's how I write. That's how I think. Jose Antonio Vargas said writing thinking I think I've always been paranoid. Jose Antonio Vargas paranoid thinking To this day writing is the most painful thing to do. Jose Antonio Vargas things-to-do painful writing I feel like people expect me to give them easy answers, but there aren't really easy answers. There are only harder questions. And unless we get to the harder questions part, about what this conversation is really about...of course I want an immigration bill to pass. I want people to have a driver's license and work permits and green cards and passports. But this conversation transcends this bill. We're not going to have a perfect bill. This is politics. I feel like my job is instead of giving people easy answers, my job is to actually to ask people to probe deeper. Jose Antonio Vargas perfect giving people I've done everything I've done in America with the limitations I have. Jose Antonio Vargas limitation done america The last thing reporters and editors want to be told is what to do and how to write. They don't want to be some politically correct, Orwellian, kind of like "you're telling me how to write about...?" Jose Antonio Vargas editors want writing I like Q&A's better than articles sometimes because I feel like I'd rather hear somebody actually talk or wrestle with. Jose Antonio Vargas articles feels sometimes The No. 1 question I get is, "Do you believe in an open-borders policy?" I'm like, wait a second: What does that really mean? When you say open-borders policy, do you mean that - this is like the US-Mexico border? We put up a sign that says "Keep Out," then 10 yards in we say, "Job Wanted." Is that what people mean by open borders? So that usually shuts people up. But that's the truth. Jose Antonio Vargas mean believe people One of the things I had to really wrap my head around is I have no control over what people call me: advocate, activist, gay, Filipino, undocumented person, gay person with an Asian face and Latino name. Jose Antonio Vargas gay names people Giving people like me a green card, a passport, and a driver's license? That's not going to be the end of the immigration conversation and debate in this country. It's like saying we elected Barack Obama president, so all of the racial problems are done. Right? I mean in some ways, the immigration conversation is just starting. Which is why when we started this campaign, we didn't call it Define Immigrant, we called it Define American. That's the question. That's what's at stake. Jose Antonio Vargas giving mean country I got here when I was 12, I found out I was undocumented when I was 16, I became a journalist when I was 17, and all I ever did was write other stories to run away from myself. Jose Antonio Vargas running-away writing running No amount of success - whatever that means, quote-unquote success - no amount of success replaces the reality of being separated from my family for this long. Jose Antonio Vargas long mean reality The greatest gift that we have as human beings is our ability to empathize. That's why I think personal stories matter so much. That's someone's mom. That's someone's daughter. That's someone's son. Jose Antonio Vargas daughter mom son A broken immigration system means broken families means broken lives. That's what is at stake. Jose Antonio Vargas immigration broken mean When you watch the way some of the commentators talk about this, it makes it seem as if people are crossing the border every second. How much money have we spent on the border? Why? And who's really exploiting whom?" And then he gets quiet. But I think just airing these out and having a face-to-face conversation about it helps both of us internalize what the conversation is really about. I don't think we have that in the public sphere. Jose Antonio Vargas helping people thinking Something is fundamentally amiss when you refer to a person as illegal. Bottom line. That's why we so easily talk about this like we're talking about plants or crops. These illegals. My God, man, it's so tragic to me traveling around this country, this country that is getting more and more Latino, and you hear people use the words "illegal" and "Mexican" interchangeably. Interchangeably. Without blinking an eye. Jose Antonio Vargas eye men country
