Astrid Silva, an immigrant and college student who was mentioned in President Barack Obama's speech laying out his plan to take executive action on immigration reform, had no idea her story was going to be broadcast to the world by the president.
MSNBC reporter Amanda Sakuma was with Silva in Las Vegas watching the speech. Upon hearing her story cited by the president as an example of a "striving, hopeful immigrant," Silva broke down in tears.
Silva was brought to the U.S. at the age of four carrying very few possessions. She is now a college student working on her third degree, Obama said.
In a primetime address on Thursday night, Obama announced he would take executive action to provide deportation relief for an estimated 4.4 million undocumented immigrants. Among those protected would be those who came as children or have other long-standing ties to the country.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story referred to Silva as a "girl." As she is currently a college student, this would not be an appropriate term to describe her.
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