Balderas Permitted to Stay in U.S. Indefinitely

Eric Balderas '13, who faced possible deportation earlier this month and was granted deferred action on Friday, will be permitted to stay in the United States indefinitely, The Boston Globe reported today.

While U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can still revoke the deferral, Balderas may continue studying at Harvard without facing the threat of deportation.

Balderas, who immigrated illegally to the United States from Mexico with his family when he was 4, was detained in San Antonio, Texas when trying to board a plane to Boston with a consulate card and his Harvard identification.

Balderas, an aspiring molecular and cellular biology concentrator in Eliot House, became the center of national debate about undocumented youth in the country and immigration reform.

—Staff writer Xi Yu can be reached at xyu@college.harvard.edu.