Clinton Signs Bill Giving Salvadoran U.S. Residency

President Clinton signed a bill Wednesday granting Tony Lara, who came from El Salvador as a 10-year-old and grew up here without his parents, permanent U.S. residency.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) in January, passed the Senate in late September and the House in October. The last step was the president’s signature.

“I’m crying. I can’t believe it finally happened,” said an emotional Lara, who is 20 and lives in Northridge with the family of his high school wrestling coach.

Lara came to the United States with his parents and younger sister, Olga, in 1990, fleeing civil war in his homeland. Later that year his mother was deported and drowned trying to cross the border back into the United States. Lara’s father was deported in 1994.

Lara became a surrogate father to his sister. The youngsters struggled, sometimes living with friends, sometimes with extended family members or even strangers.

A San Fernando Valley couple eventually adopted Olga, but Lara remained on his own. Immigration law bars granting of U.S. citizenship to minors from other countries unless their parents are also seeking citizenship, so Lara was in a bind.

Still, he never missed a day of classes at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills and, as a junior, he won the state wrestling championship in the 98-pound division.

El Camino wrestling Coach Terry Fischer took in the teenager to live with his family in Northridge, even after Lara graduated from high school and went on to business classes at West Valley Occupational Center.