Miguel Perez, a Salvadoran refugee who entered the U.S. illegally and was arrested by the Border Patrol within minutes of crossing the border, beat the odds and was granted lawful permanent residence. Above, Perez (center) addresses a press conference flanked by INS District Director Robert Moschorek (left) and Perez's attorney Carl Shusterman (right).

Perez was smuggled into the U.S. as a 14-year-old by his mother. Apprehended by the INS, his mother died of a heart attack a few weeks later, leaving Miguel alone in the U.S. "I told her that I would succeed, that I would become somebody."

After Perez was ordered deported by an Immigration Judge, Congressman Mervyn Dymally (D-CA) asked Shusterman, a former INS Trial Attorney, to intervene. Appealing the deportation order to the federal courts, Shusterman eventually persuaded the INS to drop its opposition and allow Perez to remain in the U.S.

Although he arrived in the U.S. without speaking a word of English, Perez graduated six years later from California State University, Dominguez Hills at the top of his class. Today, he is a Professor of Health Sciences at one of the California State Universities.

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