US-based Pinoy journalist defends Pulitzer winner Vargas

A US-based Filipino journalist who worked with Jose Antonio Vargas defended the Filipino Pulitzer Prize winner who admitted to being an illegal immigrant in the United States. Journalist Benjamin Pimentel, who was a colleagues of Vargas at the San Francisco Chronicle, said the Pulitzer winner should not be blamed for the situation he did not choose for himself. Pimentel told GMA News Online that Vargas was one of the many aliens in America who carved a name for themselves and contributed to American society. "These children, essentially, are Americans," Pimentel told GMA News Online. "They grew up there, they know the culture, that's the life they know." At some point, Pimentel stressed, these individuals discovered their status is illegal or undocumented, which poses problems for them. "That is why there are those pushing for the enactment of the DREAM Act, na somehow, bigyan ng leeway ang mga anak ng immigrants who did not choose to be undocumented, but are good citizens," Pimentel added. The DREAM (Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors) Act is proposed legislation pending before the US Congress which seeks to grant legal status to undocumented immigrants who entered the US when they were younger. Great journalist Pimentel said he was able to work with Vargas in the Chronicle in the early 2000s, when the 30-year-old worked as an intern in the publication. "He was very talented, very hard-working and full of energy. We all knew he was going to be great as a journalist," he said. While he and Vargas weren't exactly close friends, Pimentel said he has a high respect for the young journalist. "I've read his [articles], and it's great stuff. You cannot question the integrity of his work," he maintained. Among other work, Vargas received accolades for his profile of Mark Zuckerberg for The New Yorker magazine, his documentary on AIDS in America, and the coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings for the Washington Post, which earned his team a Pulitzer Prize. Pimentel added that during his stint at the Chronicle, he discovered that Vargas was close to his grandfather, the one responsible for his migration to the US when he was 12. "I distinctly remember him talking to his grandfather on the phone," he said. Vargas knew how to cook Filipino food, too, Pimentel disclosed. "I know he cooks adobo. He was cited in a widely circulated New York Times article as the one who adds brown sugar in his Adobo recipe," he said. Of their former Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein's blog post saying he "felt duped" by Vargas, Pimentel said: "I think he would agree with me that [Vargas] is very talented, very hard-working, and easily one of the best journalists in the US." Claiming identity Meanwhile, Pimentel disagreed with those who have criticized Vargas for supposedly denouncing his Filipino roots. "I haven't heard him say 'I'm not really Filipino,' hindi naman ganun yung naririnig ko, so masyado nang hair-splitting 'yun for me," he said. "I'm not going to go there until I hear him denounce [his roots], which I doubt he will do," he added. Pimentel said that despite being embroiled in a legal battle for his legal status, Vargas has all the right to claim an American identity. "He's been there since he was twelve, he grew up there, he matured there, he was able to build a career there, that's his home, that's his identity, so he has the right to claim it, to assert it," he stressed. Model citizen Pimentel said Vargas' case is similar to that of Christopher Camat, a Filipino-American Olympic hopeful whose boxing career in the US was suddenly put on hold when his immigrant status was questioned by the Immigration and Naturalization Services in the late 1990's. In a story he penned for the Chronicle, Pimentel wrote that Camat entered the US in 1990 along with his mother and siblings, using what turned out to be an invalid visa. "The visa petition had been filed by his father, who had lied to authorities, telling them that he was still single," he narrated. Despite the legal hurdle, Camat went on to compete professionally as a boxer, "stating incorrectly on tournament applications that he was a legal permanent resident," the article noted. Camat's already rising boxing career faced a rough patch when the US Boxing Association asked for a green card to allow him to continue competing in senior amateur tournaments sponsored by the organization. Unfortunately, Camat could not produce any of the needed documents. "Camat's attorney appealed, arguing that the young boxer had been a model youth. His former coaches and leaders from the Filipino American community wrote letters to the immigration service supporting him," Pimentel wrote. An immigration judge saw reason in Camat's appeal, and eventually granted him legal status in January 2000. Camat, Pimentel said, decided to stay in the US, saying: "I had my first job here. I had my first girlfriend here. I'm starting my family here. Everything is here." - VVP/HS, GMA News