AU student receives prestigious Truman Scholarship for his immigration advocacy

An American University student from Virginia received a very competitive and prestigious scholarship to further his advocacy work revolving around immigration and improving lives for low-income Latino families.

Edwin Santos believes if you put in the work, you can make your dreams happen.

“I am a normal kid from Woodbridge that, like, came from essentially nothing, as well, and that if I'm able to do it, then anyone else is able to do it, too,” he said.

Santos’ parents immigrated from El Salvador. The youngest of four, he is the first to graduate from a four-year-college.

He’s been awarded the Harry S. Truman Scholarship mainly for his work defending Latino immigrants — adults and children — facing deportation.

“I think that it's important for a lot of times ... to use our positionality and our privilege to be able to advocate for other people who don't have that opportunity,” Santos said.

The scholarship process takes almost a year. More than 800 nationwide applications are reviewed. Then about 200 students are interviewed with only 55 to 65 students receiving the award each year.

The winners must show a commitment to a career in government or public service.

“My dad, my whole life, grew up working in construction, and that’s very labor intensive, very tiring,” Santos said. “So, just seeing that, of course, motivated me to want to continue oftentimes when I wanted to give up, when things get hard, and just also just the social pressure of realizing that a lot of people are facing similar circumstances, that my actions can have impact on a lot of different people.”

Santos plans to use the scholarship money to become an immigration lawyer.

Three other students with ties to the D.C. area also received the Truman Scholarship: Jackson Boaz from American University, Ray Epstein from Temple University and Eli Glickman from University of California, Berkeley.