"Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas" is a show that reveals the truth about the immigrant experience in the United States. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and immigration advocate Jose Antonio Vargas shares personal insights and hosts experts to discuss immigration policy, DACA options, undocumented stories, and political debates like how Democrats lost the immigration narrative to MAGA. Each episode delivers powerful immigrant stories, practical guidance, and critical conversations on the future of immigration in America. Tune in for powerful stories and conversations shaping America.
Our Broken Immigration System Kept My Family Apart for Too Long
How can you miss someone you haven't seen in 31 years?
When I was 12 years old, my mother sent me to live in California with my grandparents, for a better life. Because of America's broken immigration system, we have not seen each other in person since.
Soon after, my mother applied for a green card. Decades later, it’s finally her turn.
It’s a bittersweet moment. As our family finally comes together, families all across this country are being torn apart.
But there are still people in America welcoming immigrants. This is a country of welcomers, and we have to insist on staying a country of welcomers.
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28 Apr 2025
Meet the Man Funding DREAMers in Higher-Ed
We’re in a moment when two pillars of the American Dream — immigration and higher education — are under attack like never before in our country’s modern history. There was a time — which feels both like yesterday and a lifetime ago — when it felt like there was real bi-partisan momentum towards providing a path to citizenship for DREAMers — undocumented young people brought to the US as children who are essentially American in every sense except paperwork. But that momentum is stalled, leaving Dreamers in limbo. There are more than 3 million Dreamers living in the US, and more than 100,000 undocumented DREAMers graduate from US high schools each year — with no access to federal grants and loans for college.My guest today is someone who has helped more DREAMers afford higher education than anyone else — Don Graham. He’s the chairman of Graham Holdings, a diversified conglomerate, and the former owner of The Washington Post — where I had my first real job after college. In addition to his business endeavors, Don has a deep passion for education. He spent decades on the board of the District of Columbia College Access Program — which supports higher education for students from low-income families — and, more than a decade ago, co-founded TheDream.Us — the largest scholarship fund for undocumented students. (Full disclosure: I’ve served on the Advisory Board of TheDream.us since its inception in 2012.)Don and his team — led by Gaby Pacheco, one of our early guests in this podcast — has raised nearly $350 million dollars to support more than 11,000 students in achieving their dream of higher education.
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17 Apr 2025
Could America Survive Without Immigrant Nannies and Caregivers? With Ai-jen Poo
If you have a caregiver in your life who you depend on — a home health aid, a nanny for your kids — chances are, that person is an immigrant.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, nearly 20 percent of domestic workers in the United States are non-citizens. “Domestic workers are more than 2.5 times as likely to be immigrants than the typical worker,” according to the Department of Labor.
The Trump administration’s attack on immigrants is threatening to strain a care system that is already extremely overburdened and underfunded.
By now it’s become increasingly clear that the Trump administration is not just targeting so-called “hardened criminals” for their mass deportation efforts. Immigration officials have targeted undocumented people , whether or not they’ve been convicted of crimes.
They have even been revoking visas and green cards from people for even the most minor infractions, or for no infraction at all — just speaking out against the administration and its policies. And this is having devastating effects on domestic workers and the American citizens who depend on their care.
With us to break down how mass deportations are disrupting the care economy is Ai-jen Poo. She is the executive director of Caring Across Generations and the president of the National Domestic Workers Alliance — the leading organization that promotes the rights of domestic workers in the United States; a decade ago, she was a recipient of the MacArthur "Genius" Award, and has been a committed advocate for women, domestic workers, and immigrants for more than 30 years.
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Twitter: @DefineAmerican (https://twitter.com/DefineAmerican)
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Who has been a guest on Define American with Jose Antonio Vargas
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Nneka Achapu
Cesar Espinosa
Yosimar Reyes
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
3,277,141
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
4.4 / 5
7 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 55 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
61
Social presence
0
YouTube
93
Engagement
31
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