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The Internet is changing the way we think of our relationship with government; it has the potential to bring to life what Abraham Lincoln said about the presidency being an instrument of the people.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I've always really wanted to make a film on what it means to be white in a country that's getting less and less white.
Jose Antonio Vargas
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After I arrived in Mountain View, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, I entered sixth grade and quickly grew to love my new home, family and culture. I discovered a passion for language, though it was hard to learn the difference between formal English and American slang.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
Left-leaning bloggers have had a tremendous impact on the Democratic Party.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
The more successful I got, the more scared I got. My name was all over Google. I had a Wikipedia page I was terrified to look at. And so I just snapped. I thought, 'If I'm going to come out with this, I'm going to do it in a big way. And not just for myself. This can't just be my story.'
Jose Antonio Vargas -
My being gay is not a social issue; it's a fact. It's not something to be debated. It's a reality.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I can't marry my way into citizenship like straight people can. I can get married in the state of New York where I live, but because of the Defense of Marriage Act, the federal government, which hands out visas, won't recognize my marriage.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I think everybody could agree that our immigration system is broken. We have not told the truth about it.
Jose Antonio Vargas
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You know, I'm one of millions of undocumented people in this country who are living kind of under the shadows. And in many ways, coming out, it was my way of - at the end of the day, I think we have to tell the truth about this immigration system. And because of that, I had to tell the truth about myself.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
It's not my job to worry about how Left, Right will react to something. My job is, am I creating something that connects people? That's my job.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
We cannot change the politics issue until we change the culture around it; until we talk about what parents do for their kids as an act of love. That's a cultural conversation.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I remember the first article I ever wrote, and I saw my name in the paper, and I already knew I was undocumented, and I was thinking: 'How can they now say I don't exist?'
Jose Antonio Vargas -
As a newcomer to America who learned to 'speak American' by watching movies, I firmly believe that to change the politics of immigration and citizenship, we must change culture - the way we portray undocumented people like me and our role in society.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I'm not a minority: I'm a majority of one. We all are. To call someone a minority, you give them baggage, of not being full, or not being seen as full. All of us need to be seen as full human beings.
Jose Antonio Vargas
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I think everyone deserves dignity.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
All I've ever done since I was 17 is tell stories. You know, I'm a storyteller. And that's what I'm going to keep on doing, especially now, kind of embracing and making sure that we tell immigration.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
As you watch 'Documented' on CNN, I ask you, my fellow Americans: What do you want to do with me? What do you want to do with us? How do you define American?
Jose Antonio Vargas -
Laws are getting passed in states like Alabama that basically would punish American citizens who are 'harboring' people. Since the federal government hasn't been able to muster or to get comprehensive immigration reform passed, states are taking it upon themselves to police and enforce laws.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
When I was a kid, I resented my grandparents not speaking the perfect English I wanted to speak.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
When you're undocumented, you're supposed to keep your head down and be quiet and pay taxes, social security - even though people don't know that we do those things - and not say anything.
Jose Antonio Vargas
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In 2007, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook would become a 'platform,' meaning that outside developers could start creating applications that would run inside the site. It worked.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
My mother made a choice. And when I was younger, I judged her for making that choice. Then I got older and got to be an adult, and I realized that was the ultimate sacrifice that any parent and any mother could possibly make.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
I am more than an immigration activist.
Jose Antonio Vargas -
You have to do what you have to do. I wanted to work. I wanted to prove that I was worthy of being here... and I was gonna do whatever it took to prove that.
Jose Antonio Vargas