A second-grader may have unwittingly blown the whistle on her mother's citizenship status during Michelle Obama's visit to a Silver Spring, Md., school -- and right in front of Mexico's first lady.
Margarita Zavala joined Mrs. Obama for a visit to New Hampshire Estates Elementary School Wednesday.
During a question-and-answer session, one girl took her immigration concerns to the top, telling Mrs. Obama that her mom says that "Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn't have papers."
The first lady replied that they have to make sure people living in the United States have the proper citizenship papers.
"That's exactly right," Mrs. Obama added.
"But my mom doesn't have papers," the worried girl said.
"Well, we have to work on that," Obama said. "We have to fix that and everybody's got to work together in Congress to make sure that happens."
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For her mother's sake, we hope the girl was talking about the Washington Post.
New Hampshire Estates Elementary School principal Jane Litchko wouldn't identify the student but told the Assoiciated Press that a parent signed a release allowing the child to participate and be filmed. Litchko said the school doesn't inquire about the immigration status of families.
The first ladies also participated in gym class, hopping and skipping with students and even joining them in the parachute game, the Associated Press reported. They preached the importance of healthy living for both body and mind, and they were there for the free lunch program, helping students pass bowls of broccoli around the cafeteria.
New Hampshire Estates Elementary won the USDA's Healthier U.S. School Challenge Silver Award in 2009 for teaching healthy living. The school serves more than 400 pre-kindergarten, Head Start, and first- and second-grade students -- including many from countries in Central America and South America -- and is involved in a program designed to protect and restore butterfly habitats across North America, the AP reported. Mrs. Zavala gave students she met butterfly books from the Mexican state of Michoacan.
