They may be starting the new year in their native Peru because of paperwork misplaced by a government worker. Miguel Torres-Bruno and his family have lived in this country since 1993, but now they're worried in just a matter of days, they may be deported.
His son, Juan Miguel Torres-Bruno has been living the American dream. He was the quarterback for his high school football team.
He came to this country with his parents when he was 9 months old.
"It's kind of like a month to month thing. These laws, you don't know, everything is changing," Juan Miguel Torres-Bruno said.
Miguel Torres-Bruno and his wife left Peru because of terrorist activities at that time.
They built their business, employed people and paid taxes. Other family members were granted legal status in the U.S.
"All of them applied for political asylum, and all of them were granted," Miguel Torres-Bruno said.
But something held their case up. They went before a judge in 2000, but the federal government said they lost part of their file so their case was dismissed in 2009.
“We never found out until 2010, when the ICE knocked on the door and took me to jail,” Miguel Torres-Bruno said.
They've been applying for exemptions every year to legally work things out, but they've been ordered to leave. He and his wife have an attorney, and they're fighting to stay in this country.
"We do everything single thing they request," the father said.
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