Twitter is getting ugly over the care of Mayte Lara, a teenage girl who tweeted about graduating with a 4.5 GPA from Crockett High School in Austin and receiving a full scholarship to the University of Texas—while being an undocumented immigrant.
Now, she’s been driven from the social media site, and people are being total dicks.
Granted, it wasn’t the smartest move. But almost immediately after she tweeted about her successes, people began to respond in anger, pointing out that many American citizens are saddled with college debt. There are certainly points to be made, but the attacks are unnecessarily cruel, with some going so far as to attack her body. Even BroBible called her an “idiot.”However, many are also coming to her defense, arguing that it’s not her fault if she’s undocumented, and what she accomplished is still incredibly impressive. And also, this is not the biggest problem we have at the moment.
Ultimately, the issue is bigger than one student. Immigration and the path to citizenship in America is complicated, to say the least, and the reasons people have for entering America without documentation are many, whether it’s to stay with family, escape poverty or violence, or find work. And, with the federal DREAM Act failing to pass on numerous occasions, many teens who may be safe under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program are still not provided a path to citizenship or other documentation.
Maybe she shouldn’t have been so forthcoming about her immigration status. But also, maybe, a teenager shouldn't be attacked for being proud of her accomplishments in the face of serious hardships.