CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – A recent Chattanooga high school graduate is heading off to the University of Chicago with nearly $300,000 in scholarships and is working to raise more money for living expenses.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press published a glowing profile about a high-performing undocumented student at a local high school who was brought to America illegally by his parents when he was 5 years old.

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The news site did not use the student’s real name, and shielded his parents’ identity, but supposedly confirmed that the teen graduated from a Chattanooga high school at the top of his class with a background in social justice activism that appealed to the university.

“I became active in Black Lives Matter two years ago, became an LGBT rights activist, campaigned for Bernie Sanders,” the student, identified as David Rodriquez, told the Times Free Press. “I had the GPS, test scores and activities that could get me into a good college.”

The 18-year-old was brought to Chattanooga by his parents, who were originally from Mexico, because they feared for the boy’s safety amid a country rife with gangs, drugs and violence. When Rodriguez enrolled in Chattanooga schools, he excelled despite allegations that he was bullied for playing the flute and piccolo.

According to the Times Free Press:

Now, 13 years later, David graduated from a local high school with a 4.0 GPA and is enrolled in the prestigious University of Chicago to be a human rights lawyer. He wants to fight discrimination against poor people of all races, women, the disabled, elderly and LGBT.

This spring, he won $290,872 in scholarships to the university, whose alumni include astronomers Edwin Hubble and Carl Sagan, Supreme Court Justice John Stevens and film critic Roger Ebert. David’s friends are promoting a GoFundMe page with a $2,500 goal for miscellaneous items like his first pair of winter boots.

Rodriguez is using President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, with help from the immigrant advocacy group La Paz, to secure a visa to stay in the country and continue to college.

Tennessee lawmakers considered legislation this year to allow illegal immigrants in the state to pay in-state tuition at public colleges and universities, but the measure did not pass the state House.

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That meant it was more expensive for Rodriguez to attend Chattanooga State Community College than to attend the University of Chicago, according to the news site, which alleged Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump plans to deport DACA students, if elected.

Trump’s communications director Hope Hicks told the Times Free Press Trump wants to put legal Americans first, and did not offer a very favorable perspective on Obama’s DACA program.

“DACA is a government benefits program that unilaterally extends work permits, Social Security, Medicare and cash tax benefits to people illegally in the country,” Hicks wrote in an email. “Mr. Trump has been clear that any immigration plan he supports must improve jobs and wages for Americans, including tens of millions of Americans out of work.”