Like many people, Jose Vargas’ income is not something he’s readily comfortable talking about with a stranger. Perhaps even less so, considering he is an illegal immigrant living a very high-profile life as a political activist and journalist in the U.S.
The Washington Post this week published a lengthy profile on Vargas (one of many of him that have appeared in the media recently), noting that he’s working on a memoir, creating a documentary with MTV and delivering speeches across the country.
As someone who acknowledged publicly in 2011 that he is an unlawful U.S. resident, it’s somewhat puzzling that Vargas, who left his original home in the Philippines at 16, has been able to remain in the country while thriving professionally.
Before revealing his immigration status, Vargas, 33, worked as a reporter for the Washington Post, then as an editor at the Huffington Post. He also created a documentary about AIDS in Washington, D.C., and wrote a profile on Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for the New Yorker.
He created another documentary (“Undocumented,” 2013), and the aforementioned memoir and MTV documentary are in the works, plus the speaking engagements, for many of which he is paid. Vargas also co-runs the non-profit Define American but says he doesn’t pay himself from it.
Asked whether he makes more money now than he did before revealing his immigration status, Vargas deflected. “To be honest, I was making a really good living as an editor at the Huffington Post,” he told the Washington Examiner. “I was paid well and I was writing for the New Yorker and I finished a film. I’m not sure I could make that comparison.”
He said, though, that before telling people his secret, he had saved up money because he wasn’t sure what would happen to him.
Another oddity, one that Vargas likes to point out: Though employers are not legally allowed to hire him, it is not against the law for Vargas to own his own business in the U.S. or even hire people to work for him.
The Los Angeles Times covered this wrinkle in immigration law in 2013, noting that the process for undocumented workers to apply for an LLC under his or her name is a simple one.
Vargas says through his own LLCs (which he declined to give us the names of), he employs between 25 and 30 people. Contracting through those LLCs is also how Vargas accepts paid work offers.
“So, I’m actually an employer hiring American citizens,” Vargas said.
