SAN YSIDRO PORT OF ENTRY (KABC) -- An immigration nightmare for a Southern Californian Harvard student is finally over: Dario Guerrero Meneses, 21, was stuck in Mexico since August, but he crossed back into the United States Tuesday afternoon.
"The U.S. immigration system does work, although some people would like to see many changes done, being in there I felt grateful," said Meneses.
When his mother didn't respond to cancer treatment in the U.S., Meneses took her to Mexico for alternative options.
He was never supposed to leave the United States. Meneses and his family came here illegally when he was 2 years old. President Obama's 2012 DREAM Act protected him and other undocumented students from deportation.
U.S. officials said Meneses effectively deported himself and would not be able to return. He began to work with a lawyer, Harvard University and the United States Consulate.
"There's been no precedent set for something like this. So I wasn't sure if there was a time frame," said Meneses.
After weeks of trying, Meneses was granted humanitarian parole and a visa.
Meneses was with his mother when she passed. He says her dying wish was for him to graduate and make a life for himself in the United States.
"She didn't want this episode in my family's life to, I don't know, defeat me, or destroy everything that I've been working up to," said Meneses.