Larissa Martinez, a a graduating member of the class of 2016 at McKinney Boyd High School in Texas, used her valedictorian speech to reveal she is an undocumented immigrant.
She described how she fled Mexico at the age of 11 to escape her abusive and alcoholic father. Martinez is Yale-bound with a full scholarship; she said she decided not to give her classmates the “traditional Hallmark version” of a graduation speech and decided to reveal the truth about herself. Martinez explained that on July 11, it will be exactly six years since she moved to McKinney from Mexico City. At the age of 11, she was “a girl whose only dream was to become an American and who thought moving countries would solve all of the problems in her life.”
Her speech came one week after Mayte Lara Ibarra of Austin Texas tweeted photos of her high school graduation, captioning them with her GPA, her full ride to University of Texas Austin, and her revelation that she is undocumented. People have both supported and condemned both girls for their revelations.
Martinez described her life in a one-bedroom apartment in which she shares a bed with her mother and sister. She has had to look after her sister since her mother works from morning to late at night. At the end of her high school career, Martinez had a 4.95 GPA and took 17 AP classes.
“School became my savior.”
Martinez included details about her immigration process, revealing that she has been waiting seven years for her application to be processed. She paid tribute to her mother, saying, “While mothers move mountains for their children, you literally moved countries for my sister and me.”
Her speech also touched on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s views on immigration.
“America can be great again without the construction of a wall built on hatred and prejudice.”
The theme of Martinez’s speech was to highlight the accomplishments she achieved despite her immigration status, and to point out that a person’s immigration status does not carry a negative influence on who they are.
“The most important part of the debate and the part most often overlooked is the fact that immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, are people too,” Martinez said. “People with dreams, aspirations, hopes, and loved ones. People like me.”