Luis Grijalva, a student at Northern Arizona University, qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics and represent his home country, Guatemala. But as a DACA recipient, he couldn’t leave the United States without special permission.
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
hide legend
–
toggle subtitle
–
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
–
–
Luis Grijalva, a student at Northern Arizona University, qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympics and represent his home country, Guatemala. But as a DACA recipient, he couldn’t leave the United States without special permission.
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
–
—
Luis Grijalva was racing against the clock, but this time he was not on the track.
The Northern Arizona University track star qualified in June to compete in the Tokyo Olympics, representing his home country of Guatemala. But leaving the United States to compete abroad was not an option.
–
Grijalva is a recipient of DACA, or Delayed Action for Childhood Arrivals. He was born in Guatemala, but came to the United States at the age of one.
If you left the United States without special authorization from the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, you would self-deport and not be allowed to return. But the process of obtaining a license, known as advance parole, can take months.
Luis Grijalva relaxes with his Northern Arizona University teammates after winning the team championship at the Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
hide legend
–
toggle subtitle
–
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
–
–
Luis Grijalva relaxes with his Northern Arizona University teammates after winning the team championship at the Division I Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Championship on March 15 in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
Shane Bevel / NCAA photos via Getty Images
–
—
“Although my roots began in Guatemala, in a way I feel as American as anyone who was born here.” the public on Instagram, “DACA takes away my freedom to leave the country and be able to return …”
“It would be an honor and a privilege to represent my country, but also to be a voice and represent more than 600,000 Dreamers like me,” added Grijalva.
–
He also said he was making a last-ditch effort to get the USCIS office in Phoenix to grant him advance parole.
On Monday, Grijalva and her immigration attorney, Jessica Smith Bobadilla, were successful.
“I couldn’t believe it just because we’ve been working so hard to achieve it,” Grijalva said. NPR Here now, “It seemed like a little dream a few months ago, but it actually came true.”
–
Now he’s heading to Tokyo.
“It’s amazing… to be able to represent my mother, my father, my family and generations of [my] family in Guatemala, ”said Grijalva. [it’s] very special, representing 15 million people in Guatemala. It is an honor and a privilege to run through Guatemala and only run for my people. “
–
