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Norwalk valedictorian comes out as undocumented

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Laura Veira, valedictorian at Brien McMahon High School, at her residence in Norwalk, Conn. June 17, 2016. Veira proclaimed her status as an undocumented resident to all the attendees at her graduation ceremony.
Laura Veira, valedictorian at Brien McMahon High School, at her residence in Norwalk, Conn. June 17, 2016. Veira proclaimed her status as an undocumented resident to all the attendees at her graduation ceremony.Erik Trautmann / Hearst Connecticut Media

NORWALK — With long brown hair and a hesitant smile, Laura Veira spent her first 17 years as the quiet girl with a secret.

“I always tried to keep people at a distance and not let them in, so they didn’t know about what was going on,” ” said Veira, 19, a recent graduate of Brien McMahon High School heading to Harvard University this fall.

But Veira didn’t stay the quiet girl, and her secret is no longer.

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“I am honored to stand before you today as another proud, undocumented Latina who is unafraid, unashamed and here to stay,” Veira announced to a crowd of hundreds on Wednesday.

It was her speech as the class valedictorian, and it was met with cheers and rapturous applause — so much that she had to pause and wait for it to die, before continuing.

Now, not only is Veira part of the small percentage of undocumented students who graduate from high school — with only 5 to 10 percent of those graduates going on to attend college, studies show — but she is also part of a growing cohort of students and graduating valedictorians that surprised their graduation commencement audience with their undocumented status.

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The decision to “come out of the undocu-closet,” as Veira said, comes in a time when presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has proposed building a wall to keep undocumented immigrants from entering the United States, and has referred to immigrants as rapists and criminals.

She said part of her motivation for making such a bold statement was to hopefully change the minds of some of the Trump supporters at her school. And another motivation, she said, was to inspire others to open up.

“It’s not just that I’m Hispanic and also undocumented, it’s that I’ve made it this far. So if I can do this, then other people can achieve their dreams as well,” Veira said.

She only started telling friends about her immigration status back in September. Before that, it was all hush-hush.

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Keeping the secret

“Is a green card really green?”

It was that innocent question, posed to Laura Veira by a friend her freshman year at Brien McMahon High School, that sent a wave of uneasiness through her body. She said yes, but she didn’t actually know.

“I felt bad for lying about that, but it was a moment where I couldn’t think of what to say,” said Veira. “I had grown up knowing that being undocumented is something I should be ashamed of and nobody should know about it.”

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But feeling like a liar pales in comparison to the difficulties of not having a car. Undocumented immigrants can’t get drivers licenses.

She lost touch with friends because she couldn’t go to their houses, and missed several after-school opportunities because she had no way to attend them.

Her family moved to the United States when she was three, and she doesn’t remember Colombia, her country of origin. It’s a secret of “another life,” she said, the life of her family, but it’s one she can’t even remember.

Getting to College

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Being undocumented was Veira’s biggest obstacle to get into college. For most places, filling out a FAFSA is the only way to get financial aid. And that form requires proof of legal residency, something Veira does not have.

The few places that don’t require proof of documentation for financial aid, or will look the other way, tend to be selective liberal arts schools and the Ivy Leagues. So Veira said her options were either get into an Ivy League or go to community college.

But even those can be expensive. Veira said her brother is struggling to pay for his Norwalk Community College tuition because, being undocumented, he couldn’t qualify for the schools’ financial aid.

She applied early decision to Harvard, and she vividly recalls the moment she was accepted.

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“It was scary. And then when it finally came up, I saw “Congratulations” and I just started bawling without continuing to read it,” she said.

Her mom was excited for her, but then followed up with “How much money are they going to give you?”

As it turns out, Veira got a full ride — including a $2,000 stipend to spend on setting up her dorm room.

Coming out of the “undocu-closet”

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Veira started hearing about this group, Connecticut Students for a Dream, or CT4D, that organizes undocumented students and allies, raising awareness and changing policy to decrease the discrimination of undocumented immigrants.

“They’ve empowered me a lot… The people were so amazing. Now they’re like family,” she said.

The first time she told people she was in a car on her way to a rally and the members of CT4D asked her if she was undocumented.

“That was the first time I said I was undocumented and they said ‘Ooh, cool.’ And I was like, ‘I’ve never heard that response before,’” Veira said.

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She came out officially to her friends on Instagram, posting a photo and a caption describing why she was coming out now. So far, Veira said she hasn’t received any backlash from the community or an social media about being undocumented.

“I keep waiting for it,” Veira said.

And she found others on Instagram who used her similar refrain — “Unafraid, unashamed, and here to stay” — and when she asked them about it, they said they were inspired to come out by her post.

Veira said she hopes more people will come out after hearing her story.

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“It will feel like a lot of people will attack you,” said Veira. “But despite that, it will feel like you can finally breathe.”

“I look back at myself and how I was freshman year, because I was a completely different person,” said Veira. “But I like how I am now a lot better.”

SFoster-Frau@CTPost.com; @SilviaElenaFF

|Updated

Silvia Foster-Frau is the immigration reporter for the San Antonio Express-News and is the paper’s lead reporter on the Sutherland Springs mass shooting, which was the 5th deadliest in the country at the time of the attack in November 2017.

She grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and took a gap year to live in Mexico after high school before attending Grinnell College. She graduated with a bachelor’s in English in 2015. Silvia interned at Minnesota Public Radio, wrote in English and Spanish for the bilingual Chicago newspaper Extra News, and in 2015 won the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship. She reported in Connecticut for a year and then moved to San Antonio in 2016.

In 2018 she won the Express-News’ Reporter of the Year award and Texas AP’s Michael Brick Storytelling Award. In 2019 she won Texas AP Star Reporter of the Year in the biggest newspaper category.

Silvia is half Puerto Rican and half Iowan. She loves breakfast tacos, frequently says “y’all” and keeps a stash of cascarones at her desk, so it’s safe to say she’s fully embraced the San Antonio way.