The young woman at the presidential debate who asked the final question from the audience — Hillary, diamonds or pearls? — was Maria Parra-Sandoval. I profiled her in a column in April 2006, during the pitched debate over the nation’s immigration policies.

She was 20, headed for an internship in Senator Harry Reid’s office, and had just been naturalized as a U.S. citizen. She was snuck into this country as a 6-year-old by her mother, and went on to do wonderful things with her life.

“Immigrants risk everything in order to live a peaceful life and to help build a great nation,” she told me at the time.