As attention has turned to Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent Albert Carvalho in the wake of an FBI raid at his residence and the school district’s headquarters, a clip has resurfaced showing Carvalho admitting that he was an “undocumented migrant” in the United States.
In April 2025, Carvalho said in a speech, “I would be a hypocrite if I did not fight for those who today are facing conditions that over 40 years I faced as an undocumented migrant to this country.”
He later added that he came to the US at the age of 17, saying, “Education made me and saved me. I became a teacher, a principal, a superintendent leading the nation’s largest districts, four times selected as national superintendent of the year. Do not underestimate the power of the immigrant child who may very well become an adult who does well and good by America.”
Per the New York Times, Carvalho grew up in Portugal, and described growing up in a “poor environment,” being raised alongside his five siblings, two of whom died young, by parents with education that did not extend past the third grade.
After graduating from high school in the country, Carvalho came to the US on a visitor visa, which he overstayed and became illegally present in the country. He first worked as a dishwasher in Manhattan and eventually ended up in Miami, where he worked at restaurants, farms, and construction sites.
“Back in the mid-’80s, it was not difficult to find a job without documents,” Carvalho said. “They worked you more hours for less pay.”
He spent two years in the country illegally but eventually secured a student visa. He also obtained a Social Security number and legal work authorization. Per Governing, he eventually became a US citizen.
Hellbound and Down 