competition. this young man with an engineering degree from arizona state now working nights at a career with men who don't get it. >> they're like, why are you here? where did you go to school? i went to arizona state. >> reporter: he's here because shortly after graduating from asu last year, oscar self-deported because he wanted to become a u.s. citizen. why did you do it? >> well, i just didn't want to be back home and not be able to use my degree for anything. no one's going to hire you for a top job if you don't have, you know, your social security number, all of that stuff. >> he worked so hard to get a degree, and he really wanted to put it to use. and he wasn't going to be able to do that without getting legalized. getting status. >> reporter: you see oscar vasquez was an illegal immigrant, brought to the united states by his mother when he was 12. even though carla is a u.s. citizen, oscar is considered