IMMIGRANT WATCH : American Dream

“The vehicle was there. The way was there. All I had to do was take advantage of it.” And so Miguel Perez took the best of what America had to offer and transformed himself from illegal immigrant to college valedictorian.

That achievement in the face of formidable odds earned him U.S. permanent resident status and kudos from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, which had earlier tried to deport him.

Perez was 14 when he fled the civil war in El Salvador and came to the United States with his mother in 1984. They sought political asylum and joined his aunt and sister in Los Angeles. Within months, his mother died. Perez had promised her he would learn English and complete high school and college.

It was not until his third year in college that his asylum request was rejected and he was ordered to return to El Salvador. Through the help Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) and attorney Carl Shusterman, Perez qualified for a green card under a little used “suspension of deportation” provision in the law.

He graduated as valedictorian of his class last year at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Now 23, Perez is a graduate student in health education at Pennsylvania State University. He plans to work in the health education field.

Perez’s mother would have been proud of her beloved son. His ambition, self-reliance and trust in others enabled him to fulfill his promise. Thousands of immigrants across the country daily follow his example of hard work and perseverance in search of a better life--the American dream.