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MPR News Staff
St. Paul

StoryCorps: A little girl's journey to the U.S., without authorization

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Sandra Portilla
Sandra Portilla
StoryCorps

To help Minnesota Public Radio celebrate its 50th anniversary, the StoryCorps Airstream trailer is collecting stories now in the Twin Cities.

One story is that of Sandra Portilla.

She was born in Mexico 24 years ago. When she was a little girl, her family made a long journey to enter the United States without authorization.

Her parents didn't tell her where they were going until well into the trip.

Portilla now has a green card, attends college and works for the Immigrant Law Center. Portilla's interview partner was her colleague Mary Turck.

Use the audio player above to hear her story.

More from StoryCorps

MPR marks 50 years
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• Join the celebration, tell us your story

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• After years, a war interpreter is reunited with his family