Pulitzer Prize-Winning Undocumented Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas Arrested At South Texas Border

[TexasTowelie]

Pulitzer Prize-winning, undocumented journalist, Jose Antonio Vargas, came to the Rio Grande Valley last week to visit and report on the children refugees being sheltered in McAllen. Vargas was able to interview and film the young refugees, wanting to share their story with the rest of the country.

"I flew into the valley Thursday morning to visit a shelter for unaccompanied Central American refugees and participate in a vigil in their honor. Outraged at the media coverage of this humanitarian crisis (these children are not "illegal," as news organizations like CBS News and the New York Times call them), and frustrated by the political ping-pong centered on border security and increased enforcement, I also came here to share my own story of coming to the United States as an unaccompanied minor from the Philippines. I wanted to help change the narrative of the conversation and, with a camera crew, share stories from the shelter and its volunteers," Vargas wrote on Politico.

Yet, for all residents, traveling outside the Valley requires passing inspection by Border Patrol at the Falfurrias checkpoint or at the airport. Procedures Vargas was not aware of.

"When my friend Mony Ruiz-Velasco, an immigration lawyer who used to work in the area, saw on my Facebook page that I was in McAllen, she texted me: "I am so glad you are visiting the kids near the border. But how will you get through the checkpoint on your way back?" A curious question, I thought, and one I dismissed. I've visited the border before, in California. What checkpoint? What was she talking about?" wrote Vargas.

More at http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/15456/pulitzer-prizewinning-undocumented-journalist-jose-antonio-vargas-stuck-in-south-texas-border

ETA: Video available from the McAllen Monitor at http://www.themonitor.com/news/breaking/immigrant-activist-journalist-detained-at-mcallen-airport/article_0ced9814-0c30-11e4-8a9c-001a4bcf6878.html .

[WolverineDG]

1. That was my first thought

how the hell was he going to get out of there? Used to be you could fly out but now they have BP agents at the airport (I think that's illegal, since the airport is not a port of entry)

[Rstrstx]

2. Well neither are the checkpoints

They're not ports of entry, but the BP is there too. In fact, the BP doesn't even handle people at points of entry, that's up to Immigration and Customs.

Frankly I'm stunned he either doesn't have an immigration attorney retained, or if he does that his attorney didn't point out the potential trouble he could get into, very amateurish. Now I'm wondering how he's even getting his salary.

[Rstrstx]

3. Actually I believe most airports are considered ports of entry

It's just that usually they're only checking arriving international flights, not domestic ones. But I know they've nabbed a number of people at the McAllen airport in the past who were trying to get to other parts of the US after crossing the river.

[WolverineDG]

4. It didn't use to be that way

I grew up in McAllen & was never confronted with BP at the airport. Then I moved to Laredo in 2000 & all of a sudden, I'm being asked what my citizenship is. This started before 9/11 too.