PERSON: Juan Vargas

U.S. House of Representatives

Member of Congress

Juan Carlos Vargas (born March 7, 1961) is an American businessman and politician who has been a U.S. representative for California since 2013. His district includes the southernmost portions of San Diego County.

Vargas previously served as a Democratic member in the California State Senate representing the 40th district, the California State Assembly representing the 79th district, and the San Diego City Council.

Vargas was born on a chicken ranch in National City, California, where he grew up very poor. He is the third of 10 children of Tomas and Celina Vargas, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico in the late 1940s as part of the Bracero program. Vargas graduated magna cum laude with a BA from the University of San Diego and earned an MA in humanities from Fordham University.

After college, Vargas joined the Jesuit Novitiate in Santa Barbara. In the Jesuits, Vargas served in an orphanage in El Salvador’s civil-war-torn jungles. After leaving the Jesuits, he attended law school, graduating in 1991 with a JD from Harvard Law School.

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