McClatchy Washington Bureau

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One year ago, Juan Gomez, the Killian High School grad who was saved from deportation, traveled to the nation's capital to advocate for undocumented students.

Gomez headed for Washington again Thursday, but for a different reason: Next week he starts at Georgetown University.

And if being accepted to one of the nation's top colleges wasn't enough, Gomez also won a competitive partial scholarship for international students.

''It's been really exciting,'' Gomez said Wednesday night as he got ready to leave Miami.

Juan, 19, his brother Alex, 20, and their parents were arrested by immigration agents last July. Their parents had overstayed their visas for more than a decade, and the family was going to be deported to Colombia.

The brothers were toddlers when they arrived in the United States.

But when the family was put into immigration detention, the young men's friends launched a grass-roots campaign to save Juan and Alex.

Read the complete story at the miamiherald.com