First there was Mayta Lara Ibarra of Austin, Texas who bragged on Twitter that she is an illegal immigrant and got the rude awakening that she deserved. Now we have Larissa Martinez of McKinney, Texas.
Martinez, the valedictorian at McKinney Boyd High School in North Texas, admitted during her commencement speech this year that she is an "undocumented immigrant."
She proudly affirmed, "I'm one of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of the United States."
Um, what? Why are you proud of that? If I had attended that graduation, I would have calmly pulled my phone out, visited ICE's website and filled out their tip form.
During her roughly nine-minute speech, Martinez shared with her graduating class and their guests how she arrived in the United States and some of the "struggles" she had to face.
Keep in mind that this girl received a full scholarship to Yale University where she will be legally allowed to attend despite her immigration status. Texas House Bill 1403, which was passed in 2001, "enable[s] students, including those who are undocumented, to qualify as residents... To qualify a student must: ... Graduate from a public or private high school..."
And Martinez just graduated from a public high school.
In her speech, Martinez proceeded to blame the United States' immigration system for forcing many illegal alien families to "live in fear." She also sneakily took a jab at presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump, stating:
“The most important part of the debate and is often overlooked is that immigrants, undocumented or otherwise, are people too. People with dreams, aspirations, hopes and loved ones. People like me. People who have become a part of the American society and way of life and who yearn to help make ‘America great again’ without the construction of a wall built on hatred and prejudice.”
The Collins County Democrats declared Martinez their "hero of the week" on Twitter. I don't know what they're on, but she's not my hero. I don't care how smart she is -- she and her family broke the law.
And just to top it all off, Martinez added, “I myself have been waiting seven years for my application to be processed,” and that “we are trying to do it the right way, but we don’t know how.”
Can you believe this? I can't. Martinez and her family aren't trying, and never tried, to do anything "the right way."