--- title: Watch This Young Girl Speak At The Democratic Convention description: 11-year-old Karla Ortiz spoke about her fear her parents will be deported at the Democratic National Convention Monday night. canonical: https://time.com/4423244/watch-this-11-year-old-girl-speak-at-the-democratic-convention/ author: Will Drabold article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-26T05:01:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:32:34.253Z article:section: Politics og:title: Watch an 11-Year-Old Girl Speak at the Democratic Convention og:description: "I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families, like us" og:url: https://time.com/4423244/watch-this-11-year-old-girl-speak-at-the-democratic-convention/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8748c0fda308a10d/69889f318e06019014466dda/hillary-clinton-dnc-democratic-national-convention-22.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: DEM 2016 Convention og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch an 11-Year-Old Girl Speak at the Democratic Convention twitter:description: "I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families, like us" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8748c0fda308a10d/69889f318e06019014466dda/hillary-clinton-dnc-democratic-national-convention-22.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch This 11-Year-Old Girl Speak At The Democratic Convention by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 26, 2016 5:01 AM UTC  11-year-old Karla Ortiz, left, and her mother Francisca Ortiz speak during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, July 25, 2016. 11-year-old Karla Ortiz, left, and her mother Francisca Ortiz speak during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, July 25, 2016.J. Scott Applewhite—AP by [Will Drabold](https://time.com/author/will-drabold/) ## Will Drabold Jul 26, 2016 5:01 AM UTC Most days, Karla Ortiz says she feels scared. Scared that her parents, Latinos who immigrated illegally to the U.S., will be deported and that her family will be torn apart. “I’m scared that at any moment, my mom and my dad will be forced to leave,” Ortiz told the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. “I wonder, what if I come home and find it empty?” The 11-year-old American citizen drew cheers and applause from Democrats as she outlined her dreams for the future in a primetime convention speech. Ortiz, born in Nevada, met Hillary Clinton earlier this year during a campaign stop in Nevada. Their interaction, where Ortiz first expressed a fear her family would be broken up, [became a Clinton campaign ad. ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axN-hs4slpY) “I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families, like us. I have hope,” Ortiz said as her mother, Francisca, stood by her side. “(Clinton) wants me to have the worries of an 11-year-old, not the weight of the world on my shoulders.” The crowd cheered as Ortiz and her mother spoke in Spanish and finished their speech with, “Clinton for president!” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4423244/watch-this-11-year-old-girl-speak-at-the-democratic-convention/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4423244/watch-this-11-year-old-girl-speak-at-the-democratic-convention/"},"headline":"Watch This 11-Year-Old Girl Speak At The Democratic Convention","datePublished":"2016-07-26T05:01:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:32:34.253Z","description":"\"I want to grow up to be a lawyer so I can help other families, like us\"","url":"https://time.com/4423244/watch-this-11-year-old-girl-speak-at-the-democratic-convention/","keywords":["Democratic National Convention","Hillary Clinton","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8748c0fda308a10d/69889f318e06019014466dda/hillary-clinton-dnc-democratic-national-convention-22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Will Drabold","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/will-drabold/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8748c0fda308a10d/69889f318e06019014466dda/hillary-clinton-dnc-democratic-national-convention-22.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"DEM 2016 Convention","caption":"11-year-old Karla Ortiz, left, and her mother Francisca Ortiz speak during the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on Monday, July 25, 2016.","creditText":"J. 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