In the middle of national immigration policy debate, a Bay Area school board announced they will be naming a new elementary school after Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Jose Antonio Vargas, who is an undocumented American immigrant.
This is a monumental moment considering recent anti-immigrant debates that came after the Trump Administration suggested building tent cities to house detained children who have been separated by their families following deportation.
Vargas arrived in the U.S. from the Philippines when he was only 12 years old and attended middle school in the Bay Area. Having attended Mountain View High School, the Mountain View Whisman School District board has voted on Thursday for an elementary school to be named after Vargas.
“I don’t really have words for how meaningful this honor is, I’ve been speechless for a few days,” he told CNN. “I hope that this is a school where students and their families feel welcome in America, no matter where they come from.”
Vargas expressed his utmost gratitude on Twitter as well, dedicating the school to all undocumented students, parents, and families.
I never imagined or wished or dreamt of this. Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School is dedicated to all undocumented students and their parents and families. We are here. We are an intrinsic part of every community ?? https://t.co/SyuvaoDdTh
— Jose Antonio Vargas (@joseiswriting) June 15, 2018
Vargas was a member of the team with the Washington Post that received the Pulitzer Prize for their outstanding coverage on the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting.
He came out about his immigration status in an essay written for The New York Times Magazine titled “My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant” in 2011. In the essay, he shares that when he came out as gay in 1999, it “seemed less daunting” than coming out about his legal status.
Vargas has since become an advocate for immigration and has founded Define American, a non-profit media and culture organization that uses the power of story to “transcend politics and shift the conversation about immigrants, identity, and citizenship in a changing America.”
Vargas has directed two documentaries, including Documented, a biopic that follows his crusade for immigration reform, and in September, his first book Dear America: Notes From an Undocumented Citizen is set to hit shelves.
Laura Blakely, president of the district’s school board, spoke on the reasoning behind picking Vargas’ name for the school.
“He’s a product of our school district,” Blakely said. “He’s been the face of the American dream for so many students who came here as children, and really grew up as Americans without having citizenship. We have so many students in our community who are ‘Dreamers,’ and he’s such an inspiration.”
Jose Antonio Vargas Elementary School will open in the 2019-2020 school year in Mountain View, CA.