Pulitzer Winner Arrested

Pulitzer Prize winning author and illegal immigrant Jose Antonio Vargas was arrested Friday in Minneapolis, MN, but was promptly released by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers the same day.

Click here for more on who Vargas is & his immigration story.

According to reports, Vargas was stopped by police on Interstate 35W for driving while wearing headphones. Officers then learned that the Washington drivers license Vargas was using was invalid and therefore called ICE. According to a Star Tribune article, the license was cancelled due to fraudulent activity. The nature of the fraudulent activity was not revealed in the report.

Vargas spent approximately 3 hours in the Hennepin County Jail and the rental car he was driving was towed. He will not face illegal immigration charges.

Vargas at one time also held an Oregon license, a fraudulent social security card and passport, and has used false addresses to obtain identification. (CDN) Vargas has held jobs at The Huffington Post, The Washington Post and The San Francisco Chronicle, founded the Define American organization, travels the country frequently by plane and participates in other activities that require identification. He appears on MSNBC often, has been a guest on Fox News Channel and gives speeches on college campuses. How is it that he is able to so freely move about the country with fraudulent identification?

ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen told the LA Times, “ICE is focused on smart, effective immigration enforcement that prioritizes the removal of public safety threats, recent border crossers and egregious immigration law violators…”

One U.S. congressman is speaking out against Vargas and the flawed and inconsistent immigration policies that have allowed Vargas to make a mockery of America’s laws.

Representative Elton Gallegly (R-CA) said in an interview with POLITICO, “He is just one of thousands that are ignored, and what that does it, it sends a signal that we’re not serious about certain laws.”

In his mini-autobiography in Time magazine last year, Vargas admitted to breaking several state and federal laws attempting to justify his illegal activity by saying, “I was paying state and federal taxes…”

Though Vargas will not face illegal immigration charges for his latest run-in with the law, he is scheduled to appear in court on October 18 for the misdemeanor traffic violation.

For more on Vargas, click here.