Jose Antonio Vargas responds to organizers of "catch an illegal immigrant" event "I grew up thinking I was 'illegal' because that’s how people and the media talked and still talk about us"

Jose Antonio Vargas wrote a really thoughtful response to the now-canceled "Catch an illegal immigrant" event organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, a group at the University of Texas-Austin.

In it he mainly called for a little human empathy and perspective from the organizers, reminding them that they are talking about real people, a simple but important point that was entirely absent from the framing of the event intended to “spark a campus-wide discussion about the issue of illegal immigration and how it affects our everyday lives,” according to the conservative group.

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He also challenged them to a real discussion about immigration, one that doesn't involve cheap, dehumanizing spectacle.

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