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Byline: Megan Woolhouse
Jun. 3--MARLBOROUGH -- When Juliano Foleiss gives his speech tonight as one of the two valedictorians at Assabet Valley Regional Vocational High School's graduation, he will share something he has been keeping secret: He is an undocumented immigrant.
For years, Juliano feared that he and his family would be deported to Brazil. Yet he charged ahead, learning English, earning A-plus marks in nearly all of his classes, and dreaming of one day earning a college degree in computer science. He dodged questions about his immigration status, and when his family had no place of their own to live and he did not know where to go after school, he told no one.
"School, that was my refuge," Juliano said in an interview Wednesday.
Despite the classic immigrant success story, he will not be able to reap the rewards of his success in this country, at least not any time soon. On July 5, he will move back to Brazil to attend college there because he cannot afford higher education in the United States. As a non-citizen, he does not qualify for in-state college tuition rates; without a valid Social Security Number, he is ineligible for scholarships or loans.
The…