In a June 2011 essay in The New York Times Magazine, Vargas wrote he is an "undocumented immigrant". He states he revealed his status in order to promote dialogue about what he feels is a broken immigration system in the United States, and to advocate for the DREAM Act, which would help children in similar circumstances have a path to citizenship available to them. A year later he wrote a cover story for TIME about his continued uncertainty regarding his status since this revelation. Shortly afterward, the Obama administration announced its halt to the deportation of young undocumented immigrants eligible for the DREAM Act, which, although he would not qualify due to his age, Vargas hailed as "a victory for DREAMers".
Have you heard of the Dream Act? The DREAM Act (acronym for Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors) is an American legislative proposal first introduced in the Senate on August 1, 2001, by Dick Durbin and Orrin Hatch.
This bill would provide conditional permanent residency to certain illegal individuals of good moral character who graduate from U.S. high schools, arrived in the United States as minors, and lived in the country continuously for at least five years prior to the bill's enactment. If they were to complete two years in the military or two years at a four-year institution of higher learning, they would obtain temporary residency for a six-year period. "Any alien whose permanent resident status is terminated... shall return to the immigration status the alien had immediately prior to receiving conditional permanent resident status under this Act." This bill would have included illegal immigrants as old as 35 years of age.
Supporters argue that the Act would not create an "amnesty program" and would produce a variety of social and economic benefits, while critics contend that it would reward illegal immigration and encourage further illegal immigration, inviting fraud and shielding gang members from deportation.
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