Amid American debate about illegal immigration, Pulitzer Prize winner causes shock with admission he is an undocumented immigrant

One of America's top journalists has admitted he is an undocumented alien.

In a startling first person piece in the New York Times, Pulitzer Prize winner Jose Antonio Vargas, who has written for the Washington Post, the New Yorker and the Huffington Post, reveals he is not a legal US resident and was brought into the country with faked papers when he was a child.

The news is certain to shock many observers and add more controversy to the debate over illegal immigration.

"We're not always who you think we are. Some pick your strawberries or care for your children. Some are in high school or college. And some, it turns out, write news articles you read," Vargas writes in an article for the paper's magazine section. He explains his decision to reveal himself in simple terms: "I'm done running. I'm exhausted. I don't want that life anymore."

Vargas, who was born in the Philippines, describes how a man who he thought was an uncle brought him to the US in 1993 when he was aged 12 to live with his grandparents in California. He attended high school in America and learned English.

He only learned his papers were fake when, aged 16, he tried to get a driver's permit. It was then that his grandparents revealed the man who brought him to the US had been a smuggler who was paid $4,500 (£2,800) to get him through immigration control with a false passport.

Vargas, who is gay, admits his life, that has been highly successful professionally, has been marked by secrecy when it came to his illegal status.

"Tough as it was, coming out about being gay seemed less daunting than coming out about my legal status. I kept my other secret mostly hidden," he writes.

But no longer. Vargas has revealed he is one of at least 11 million illegal aliens living in the US and his confession comes as the issue is rarely out of the headlines.

Republican Senator John McCain caused controversy earlier this week with remarks suggesting the recent devastating wildfires in Arizona had been caused by illegal immigrants. The comments prompted outrage from immigrants rights' groups and Hispanic activists, although McCain later expressed surprise that his words were deemed controversial.

Vargas' revelations are likely to have a similar polarising effect.

On the New York Times website, many comments praise his bravery in speaking out.

"I hope you earn the citizenship you deserve. Best of luck. And keep your head up; you have nothing to be ashamed of," says one commenter from New York.

But others are less forgiving and call for Vargas to be sent back to the country of his birth. "It is important that everyone come here the right and legal way so that it is fair to everyone. Mr Vargas should go back to his homeland and apply like everyone else," writes one reader in Washington DC.

The journalist's future in America is now unclear. He has launched a website, called Define American, that will seek to campaign on the immigration debate and press for the passage of the Dream Act, which aims to grant permanent residency to some illegal alien students who have graduated from US high schools.