Filling the Void After High School

They didn't relent. They started following him. He often saw them cheering at his soccer games or waving to him in the hallway.

Over time, he trusted them more and was grateful for their offers of help. His mother and stepfather moved to Manassas in his junior year, and he rented a room in Sterling so he could finish the vocational training. Simms and Butkovich helped him move, and the school's vice principals and some teachers chipped in to furnish his rented room, buying him a bed and sheets and towels.

Butkovich and Simms met with U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) and asked him to look into the student's immigration case. Wolf's staff discovered that his visa application had been filed improperly, causing a long delay. The Dominion staff hired an immigration specialist who helped him refile the forms and added a letter detailing his accomplishments.

A month after graduation, Benitez had an interview at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Butkovich raised money from church friends, relatives, even a neighborhood bunco group to pay for a round-trip plane ticket and expenses while Benitez was in Mexico. What they thought would be a one-week visit took 14 months.

Benitez stayed with his younger siblings and grandparents south of Mexico City, working on a family farm and on odd construction jobs. Throughout the year, Butkovich or her friends or relatives sent care packages and money.

In November, Benitez received word that his application had been approved and he could return to the United States as a legal resident.

"We're all so excited we can't stand it," Butkovich said when she heard the news.

Shortly before Christmas, Benitez flew to Dulles International Airport.

When he stepped off the plane, he was greeted by his Dominion High friends, who were holding signs saying "Welcome Home" and "This Way" and carrying a winter coat for him. They marveled at how tall he had grown. He smiled and flashed his new visa, with an inky stamp that read "Admitted."