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The Washington Post allowed activist and journalist Jose Antonio Vargas to keep his job and even promoted him after telling his editor he was an illegal immigrant, The Daily Caller News Foundation learned Monday.

Vargas confessed his immigration status to Peter Perl, WaPos former assistant managing editor, about four months into his job in 2004, according to a 2011op-ed Vargas published in The New York Times. The newspaper subsequently kept him on for nearly five years,2004-2009,and promoted him from intern to staff writer, according to his LinkedIn page.

Perl kept it a secret, wrote Patrick Pexton, ombudsman for The Washington Post, in a response to Vargass public confession in 2011.

Vargas told Perl his illegal immigrant status in 2004, but Perl only disclosed it to WaPosleadership in March 2011 when Vargas tried to contribute the op-ed in which he disclosed his status. The Washington Post originally considered publishing the piece but ultimately turned it down.Vargas published the piece inThe New York Times.

Marcus Brauchli, executive editor for WaPo when Vargas pitched his 2011 op-ed, refused to publish the story, but did not share his reason for doing so.

I did something I believed was the right thing to do, Perl said to WaPo. The editor said he believed that disclosing Vargass status would cost the media figure his career and perhaps trigger his deportation.

What [Vargas] did was wrong. What [Perl] did was wrong, said Kris Coratti, a WaPo spokeswoman, to The San Diego Tribunein 2011. We are also reviewing our internal procedures, and we believe this was an isolated incident of deception.

Perl reported that his pay was not docked, nor was he suspended or terminated for failing to disclose Vargass illegal immigrant status.

[Vargas] left behind a reputation in WaPos newsroom for being tenacious and talented but also for being a relentless self-promoter whom many colleagues didnt trust, said Pexton.Editors said that he needed direction, coaching and constant watching.

Perl, Vargass superior at WaPo, should have been fined or prosecuted for continuing to employ Vargas after he learned (from Vargas himself) that Vargas was not authorized to work in the U.S., Mark Krikorian, executive director at the Center for Immigration Studies, told TheDCNF. Once this came out, WaPo should have fired Perl immediately the fact that it didnt implicates WaPo in the illegal activity.

Krikorian said that Vargass crimes could be forgotten if the illegal immigrant is repatriated, but he noted that The Washington Posts crime should not be forgotten.

Vargas himself committed multiple felonies (ID fraud, Social Security fraud, tax fraud) that a less-famous person, one less lionized by the Left, would have been prosecuted for, noted the immigration research executive. He still has family in his native country, the Philippines, and his skills set those of an English-language journalist are very much in demand, so finding work would be easy for him.

Vargas came under scrutiny Wednesday for performing work for several high-profile media companies like CNN, MTV, and The Huffington Post through several LLCs, an act which legal experts told TheDCNF likely violated the law.(RELATED: Famous Illegal Immigrant Likely Breaking The Law With The Medias Help)

If the Washington Post and the New York Times knowingly contracted with an illegal alien, which it appears they did in 2011, theyd indeed be liable under federal law, said Dale Wilcox, executive director and general counsel for the Immigration Reform Law Institute, to TheDCNF. That the Obama DOJ didnt bring an action against either of them at the time obviously isnt shocking. But its hoped the Trump DOJ does and that ICE places Vargas in removal proceedings as its obligated to do by law.

Repatriating him back to the Philippines would send out a very loud message and surely cause thousands of illegal aliens to self-deport on their own, he said.

The illegal immigrant announced Thursday that he was taking a break from social media to make space to write.

TheDCNF reached out to Jose Antonio Vargas and The Washington Post for comment, but received none in time for publication.

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Famous Illegal Immigrant Told The Washington Post He Was Illegal, They Employed Him For Years Anyway - The Daily Caller