Gabriel Vasquez was born on August 3, 1984, in El Paso, Texas, and raised in the El Paso–Juárez–Las Cruces border region. He attended Montwood High School in El Paso before enrolling at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in Las Cruces, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and journalism in 2008. During his time at NMSU, he served as news editor and later editor-in-chief of The Round Up, the university's student-run newspaper.