Pasadena teen YouTube star sharing what life is like as a US immigrant

Eduardo Verastegui has more than 13M views on his channel

Eduardo Verastegui, as seen on his YouTube Channel, LaloRacer1. (KPRC2/YouTube/LaloRacer1)

PASADENA, Texas – An 18-year-old Pasadena Independent School District senior is a rising YouTube star with a passion for showing the world what it means to be a U.S. immigrant.

Eduardo Verastegui, who legally immigrated to the U.S. five years ago, has more than 314,000 subscribers on his YouTube Channel.

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Verastegui told KPRC2 that his viewers are primarily people from Mexico, Spain and Argentina, who want to know what life in America is like. 

Verastegui has more than 13 million views on his videos, which range in topic from learning to be fluent in English to his daily routine in the U.S.

He said he tries to remain neutral about border matters.

Pasadena ISD shared Verastegui’s story on its website. The district noted that the teen, who has Goldenhar syndrome -- a rare birth defect that caused abnormal development of his eye, ear and spine -- has embraced the online scene as a student at Lewis Career and Technical High School. He has studied audio and video production for the last four years.

Online popularity was not immediate, Verastegui told KPRC. However, about two years ago -- when he started implementing some of the techniques he’d seen be successful across the web -- things really took off. 

“I wanted to share my ideas, my thoughts and stories. I really was amazed,” he said. “Really happy to see that people were interested in a video of mine. I just thought it was great.” 

The following has led to advertising dollars on his YouTube channel. Verastegui told KPRC he uses the cash to reinvest in his video operations, buying equipment that he needs such as a laptop and cameras.

While trolls often target Verastegui, he’s all about being positive. 

“(Their comments) don’t bring any benefit in my life,” he said. “What’s going to matter is that I am passionate about what I want to achieve. (I want to) spread positivity on the internet.”

Verastegui is graduating in May. He plans to continue his YouTube work in college, likely at Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida.