Vargas to Speak at MVHS About Immigration Thursday

Who might be more controversial than in Mountain View? Perhaps Jose Antonio Vargas.

Vargas, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist that he's in the United States as an undocument immigrant, will speak at his alma mater on Thursday, Mar. 1. The last time Vargas visited MVHS he to a roomful students. Now he hopes to have an open dialogue with anyone who wants to listen—and join in a friendly debate about immigration reform.

Born in the Philippines, Vargas has since his "coming out" been in this country with the knowledge of the U.S. government . Though he can't work, he continues to travel and collect the stories of other undocumented immigrants through his non-profit Define American, now in its ninth month.

According to Vargas, Define American's stories  platform has collected nearly 400 stories from undocumented Americans and their supporters. He calls it the "21st Century Underground Railroad."

One of the testimonials, this one on MTV, comes from another Mountain View resident and former student Mandeep Chahal. In 2011, Chahal–a student at UC Davis–and her mother faced deportation and in U.S. Customs and Immigration Policy allowed her to stay temporarily.

The public Q&A event takes place on Thursday, Mar. 1 at 7 p.m. at Spartan Theater in MVHS, 3535 Truman Ave, Mountain View, CA 94040.

If you can't make it, join Mountain View Patch online for a live and interactive conversation. You'll be able to instant message your questions and we'll try to get them to Vargas for an answer. Check out our Twitter and Facebook pages for updates and the link.

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