Indira Esparza, Illegal Immigrant Student, Unfurls Mexican Flag at U.C. San Diego Graduation Ceremony

This is unreal.

And to think, this girl has been in the U.S. since she was 2-years-old. How's that assimilation going for you, leftist open-border fanatics.

At the San Diego Union-Tribune, "Undocumented UC San Diego student waves Mexican flag at graduation, unfurls controversy":

Illegal Immigrant Waves Mexican Flag During Graduation Ceremony From Taxpayer Funded University… pic.twitter.com/CCQcc4bAHt

— I'm your Huckleberry (@BringTheFlag) June 19, 2015

University graduates routinely show great emotion (spontaneous and sometimes scripted) as they stand in front of crowds to mark momentous occasions. Onlookers clap and cheer, hoot and holler, and then wait to see what the next student (or student body) will do.

But one UC San Diego student's Mexican flag-waving exuberance has sparked a conversation that's transcended her brief moment Sunday.

Indira Esparza, a 22-year-old undocumented student who moved to the U.S. when she was 2, proudly unfurled the green, white and red flag of Mexico as she walked across the stage.

Lyndsay Winkley, a reporter with The San Diego Union-Tribune, covered the graduation while U-T photographer John Gastaldo captured images. As colleges often do with media outlets at this time of year, UCSD had suggested we focus on Esparza for several reasons.

As Winkley wrote, she overcame financial insecurity, anxiety over losing family members to deportation and judgment from others because of her Mexican citizenship. She helped establish the Undocumented Student Services Center at the university so students like her could talk about their struggles. She wants to become an educator. And she refuses to waste any time beginning a master's program at UCSD; she started two days after the ceremony.

Winkley made the flag unfurling the lead of her story, which ran underneath Gastaldo's image and with photos of other students.

Reaction to Esparza's demonstration was immediate -- and visceral. Read on then take our poll at the bottom of this post.

Winkley received nine emails and two phone calls about the story, well above her norm. When one reader called Esparza's action "a slap in the face to the United States," Winkley replied: "I don’t think Indira meant any disrespect toward America/Americans nor was she trying to express ungratefulness by unfurling the flag of Mexico during her graduation. I think she is proud of her Mexican and her American heritages. While she plans to use her own experiences as an undocumented student to help others with similar struggles, I don’t think that precludes her from being supportive of students from all walks of life in their pursuits of higher education. Thanks for your email."

Discussion continued with dozens of posts in the story's comment section...

Keep reading.

Obviously, if the girl loves Mexico so much she should go live there.