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 Copy Share Image
I remember the first thing I did when I found out I was illegal was to get rid of my thick Filipino accent. I… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
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"… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share
The only reason I became a writer was so I could exist on a piece of paper. — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
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… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
The immigration bill is going to pass. We're going to have a bill. It's going to get through the Senate. I think the fundamentals… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
I got here when I was 12, I found out I was undocumented when I was 16, I became a journalist when I was… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
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… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
The DREAMers are the safe ones, right? It's okay to advocate for the DREAMers because they're the English-speaking, college-educated ones, right? It's so interesting… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
I'm not excusing the illegal act. I am here illegally. I'm here illegally, without authorization. That's a fact. That's nothing you can call the… — Jose Antonio Vargas Copy Share Image
