Vargas invited to US Senate hearing on Dream Act

New York, NY Award-winning Filipino journalist Jose Antonio Vargas, who recently admitted that he is undocumented, has been invited to a U.S. Senate hearing tomorrow on the Dream Act that would give undocumented students in America a path to legal status.In an interview with Balitang America, Vargas would not say whether he would testify tomorrow before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.Preliminary reports say that Democratic Senator Robert Mendez of New Jersey may be championing his cause and may become his ally in their common fight for the Dream Act to pass.

Sources in the legislature say proponents of the Dream Act are in talks with Vargas, who has said that he wants to be the face and voice of the undocumented in America.The Dream Act would allow undocumented students who came to the US as minors to become US citizens if they reach certain educational attainments or serve the military.

"I don't think a story about immigration has gotten this kind of play, or this kind of discussion. I will make sure that it doesn't fail, I've gotten this far, I'm not about to give up everything now," Vargas told Balitang America.Vargas has created an organization, Define American, to push for the passage of the comprehensive immigration reform.

Last week, Vargas wrote his own life story as an undocumented immigrant - published online by New York Times."People have told me that coming out like this and writing what I did was completely irrational, one lawyer said it was legal suicide to do this, I wanted to do it because the whole system is irrational," he said.Reaction from the Filipino community has been mixed.

"I've gotten a couple of emails from Filipinos who were like, 'Why are you coming out? This is so embarrassing for us.' You know the whole T.N.T. (tago ng tago) thing. But many, many more Filipinos have been so wonderful. Not just Filipinos, everybody," said Vargas.Vargas admitted that he has played every possibly scenario in his head- including the possibility of deportation. But for now, he said that he is still steadfast in his resolve that he will be able to stay and be legalized in the US.