Over the last few years Jose Antonio Vargas, a Filipino native who has lived in the United States for most of his life, has shed great light on the circumstances facing individuals who were brought to this country while children by their parents. His award-winning journalism and candid statements about his status as an undocumented immigrant have provided a unique view of the plight of such folks and the dilemma they face in the country many view as their only home.
Last week at the southern border in McAllen, Texas, Vargas was detained by U.S. Border Patrol Agents as he told officials in the airport that he possessed no visa granting him the legal right to reside here. Some acquaintances had apparently told him after he arrived that border patrol agents check IDs at the airport and that immigration checkpoints are set up along roads within 45 miles of the border city. Nevertheless, he denied that he went there to get arrested as if it were some planned stunt. Rather he was in the area to visit a shelter where children from Central America were being housed.
In some ways his arrest mirrored the impact of his article published in 2011 in the New York Times. For some his journalism exhibited the human face of the problem facing these young men and women most of whom view themselves as American as anyone with citizenship. But for others the boldness of his admission that he was here in this country illegally reiterated their view that the letter of the country’s immigration laws should not be violated regardless of the circumstances.
Vargas will be required to appear for a deportation hearing in Texas at a later date. He was released on bond after spending several hours in detention.
The Shulman Law Group endeavors to ensure its clients be kept abreast of all significant developments relating to the process of immigration to the United States. Edward Shulman, Esq, founder of The Shulman Law Group, LLC is a national speaker for the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA). AILA is the national association of immigration lawyers established to promote justice, advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy, and to advance the quality of immigration and nationality law and practice. In the course of Mr. Shulman’s involvement with AILA, he has been dedicated to educating other immigration attorneys about the import of helping intending immigrants to navigate a new cultural system. He meticulously follows all of the developments occurring in the battle over immigration reform so that he will be prepared to effectively assist his clients obtain residency if a new system is enacted.