Theresa Vargas

Washington, D.C.

Local columnist who previously wrote for the local enterprise team about poverty, race and people with disabilities. Education: bachelor's from Stanford University; master's from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism

 Theresa Vargas is a columnist for The Washington Post. Before that, she worked on the local enterprise team, writing stories that took her, among other places, into a home for transgender teens, a support group for survivors of gun violence and a courtroom where a woman with Down syndrome fought for the right to decide how she lives. During the peak of the recession, she and a photographer traveled across the country to chronicle how Americans were coping. Before coming to The Post, she worked at Newsday in New York.

Latest from Theresa Vargas

'What have we become:’ Bryce Harper’s win, a 10-year-old's murder and a city’s contradictions

A D.C. man still hopes three words will bring unity

Jul 20, 2018

‘Brotherhood’ of arm wrestlers forms in an unexpected place: A Russian man’s Maryland shed

The men in the group come from across the Washington region and as far as Pennsylvania

Jul 18, 2018

‘She is still alive’: The hope behind a photo of Relisha Rudd released four years after she vanished

Community members pushed for an age-progression photo of the missing D.C. girl.

Jul 15, 2018

A Nepali immigrant brought his daughter to America for a better life. Then his own was taken.

Death of immigrant highlights the dangerous and sometimes fatal jobs foreign workers take.

Jul 11, 2018

‘I worry if I get angry at work, I will confirm a stereotype’ — and other statements that divide us

What Starbucks and a college dorm game can teach us about addressing racism.

Jul 7, 2018

The column I won’t write because of a troll with a gun

I had planned to ask female colleagues for their worst emails from men. Then the Annapolis shooting happened.

Jul 4, 2018

Orphans from Colombia get a taste of life in America. And many may get to stay.

The boys and girls who arrived at Dulles last week show why older immigrant children need our attention, too.

Jun 30, 2018

This 87-year-old D.C. woman just made it easier for you to keep your independence

Her case — and the way she prevailed — speaks to why guardianship and the laws around it should concern everyone.

Jun 27, 2018

‘I really miss my mom’: What becomes of a 5-year-old in Maryland and the other separated children now?

For migrant children in a Md. foster-care system, a ‘best-case scenario’ amid potential trauma.

Jun 21, 2018

A century before Austin’s bombings, a deadly Wall Street explosion was never solved

The bombing, which killed 39 people and injured hundreds more, set off an intense and unsuccessful investigation — a reminder of the challenges facing authorities in Austin.

Mar 20, 2018