This runner made it to the Olympics, but DACA status almost kept him out of his dream

Grijalva has postponed action for the arrivals of childhood (DACA), which will travel to Japan on Friday to represent Guatemala in the 5,000-meter race at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. For several weeks, he and his attorneys petitioned U.S. citizenship and immigration authorities for a special permit, known in advance as parole, that allows DACA recipients to return to the United States after a trip abroad.

Grijalva was only a year old when his family moved to New York from Guatemala. The family of five later moved to Fairfield, California, where Grijalva often ran along with other children for fun in Turkish trotting competitions on Thanksgiving.

In those holiday competitions and exercise classes, Grijalva slowly began to realize that he was faster than other children of his age. But it wasn’t until he became a teenager while at Armijon High School in Fairfield that he realized how much he loved to run, and focused with the help of his coaches on becoming a cross-country skier, he said.

Since graduating from high school, a full-time grant from the University of Northern Arizona has helped Grijalva stay competitive while pursuing a career in communications. Over the past three years, he has improved his performance and is improving his personal best times.

Although he was unable to represent the United States at the Olympics for a number of reasons, including his immigrant status, Guatemala elected him to the country’s delegation. He was respected for the opportunity, but he did not know if there was enough time to apply for and obtain an immigration permit to travel.

At that point, Grijalva says, he had about 27 days to get a travel permit. It will take at least 90 days to get the permit, Grijalva’s lawyer Jessica Smith Bobadilla said.

Smith Bobadilla said they were able to make a very detailed application and had been in contact with Arizona lawmakers about the Grijalva situation. On Monday, they made a final effort to expedite his application and went to the USCIS offices in Phoenix, they said.

According to Grijalva, it was “amazing” when the immigration authorities confirmed that he had been allowed to travel after waiting several hours in the office.

“I’ve been here for 21 years, somehow I feel as American as anyone else born here, but only that my birthright, that my birth here, takes not only so many opportunities for myself, but also for everyone else who is here at DACA,” Grijalva said.

U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas made the decision uncertain about the lives of hundreds of thousands of young immigrants and their families.

Smith Bobadilla, who represented other undocumented young people, said he was lucky to have Grijalva’s application approved and encouraged officials to consider how other DACA recipients might miss “equally significant opportunities” if they could not “guide” the application and approval process as quickly as they did.

As it prepares to travel to Tokyo, Grijalva will be tested several times on the Covid-19 before the flight. He takes some time to think about the eight-year journey that will take him to the Olympics and the responsibility he represents for DACA recipients.

Grijalva owes much of his success to high school and college coaches who supported him and steered him in the “right direction”.

He will compete in Guatemala on August 3 for the preliminary 5,000-meter race. After the Olympics, he will continue his career professionally after signing a contract with shoe company Hoka One One.

“It’s honestly a dream to pursue a passion that doesn’t feel like work,” Grijalva said. “It’s pretty awesome.”