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McKinney Valedictorian Reveals Undocumented Status

Heading to Yale, Larissa Martinez hopes to become a neurosurgeon

A North Texas valedictorian's story is going viral because she revealed in her commencement speech that she lives in McKinney as an undocumented immigrant.

Larissa Martinez announced it to her McKinney Boyd classmates, and the world, last Friday. She said she wants everyone to know that immigrants are people, too, no matter their status.

"Undocumented immigrants are people, too," she said in her speech, drawing applause.

Martinez said she's been surprised by the overwhelmingly positive reaction she's received since the speech.

"I thought that there would be a lot of people who disagreed with me and would come up to me and maybe say negative things," she said. "But it was the complete opposite and I am really grateful for that."

Martinez heads to Yale on a full-ride scholarship later this summer. She hopes to become a neurosurgeon.

Her speech comes as another Texas valedictorian received a negative, threatening backlash after revealing she is undocumented. Mayte Ibarra, of Austin Texas, had tweeted photos of herself mentioning both her full scholarship to college and her immigration status, NBC News reported.

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