Pulitzer without papers

Unusually, The New York Times has just published an article that was originally prepared and revised for its rival, The Washington Post. This was done with the consent of the Post. In the article a young star journalist, a former Post employee, confesses to a crime that may get him jailed or deported from the United States, where he has been living since he was 12. This illustrates the collective prejudices, personal tragedies and thorny dilemmas involved in the matter of immigration. This surprising individual history has global implications: few countries know how to handle the immigration question, though it grows more problematic every year.

José Antonio Vargas is a journalist born in the Philippines, who has worked for top newspapers in the United States, shared a Pulitzer prize, and interviewed important personalities such as Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. Since March he had been working with the editor of the Post Sunday supplement, Carlos Lozada, on an important article that was to be published this week. In it Vargas confesses that he is an illegal immigrant, and has falsified documents and lied about his nationality since the age of 16. He had decided to make his story public, to illustrate the contradictions and cruelties of the existing migration laws.

One day Lozada was informed that his chiefs had decided not to publish the article. Then Vargas contacted The New York Times, whose editors saw that the story was solid gold. They recast their Sunday supplement and therein published the Vargas text, now diligently revised, corrected and verified by Lozada and his colleagues. Lozada's chiefs have yet to explain why they took this decision, vehemently debated in journalistic circles.

Even more ferocious is the debate on Vargas' revelations. Many readers were surprised to learn that not all illegal immigrants are housemaids or lettuce pickers. They have learned, for example, that since 2007, immigrants with university degrees are more numerous than those without. Others don't know what to say about the situation that Vargas explains: "I have grown up here. This is my home. However, though I consider myself an American and consider that America is my country, my country does not treat me as one of its own." When he won the Pulitzer, he phoned his grandmother. Instead of congratulations, her first reaction was to ask: "And what if they find out?" Vargas "put down the telephone, ran to the bathroom by the Post newsroom, shut myself in and broke down in tears." Like many immigrants without papers everywhere, he has not seen his mother or his sister for 18 years, and has not met his 14-year-old brother.

Vargas is one of the millions of immigrants who, following an old American tradition, have been transforming the country and contributing to its progress. The Hispanic population, for example, is going to triple in the next 50 years. Its purchasing power is growing at a rate three times greater than the national average, as is its rate of creation of new companies. The US Hispanic middle class is now one of the most burgeoning in the world, having grown by 80 percent in 20 years.

The problem, of course, is that under existing laws, about 28 percent of Hispanics are criminals: illegal immigrants. Many Americans consider that Vargas ought to be tried, penalized and deported - America's greatness being due to the rule of law. Others point out that this greatness also depends on the principle of the melting pot - a country that is strong thanks to its capacity to attract and absorb people from all lands.

In any case, Vargas is betting on another feature of the country: political flexibility. He has launched a national movement to change the immigration laws. This is just his first broadside.