Video: Courage in Little Village

Elizeth Arguelles competes for Miss Mexico Illinois March 4 in Cicero. (Jiayan Shi/MEDLL)

By Jiayan Jenny Shi

Elizeth Arguelles, 21, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, participated in the Señorita México Illinois (Miss Mexico Illinois) beauty pageant March 4 to win a scholarship for her transition to a four-year university.

Although Arguelles didn’t win the crown and the scholarship, she got the Miss Sympathy award. After the pageant, Arguelles went back to her normal life in Little Village, a community that has the largest undocumented population in Chicago.

Photo at top: Elizeth Arguelles competes for Señorita México Illinois (Miss Mexico Illinois) March 4 in Cicero. (Jiayan Jenny Shi/MEDILL)