When Luis Grijalva crossed the finish line second in the 5,000-meter race at the N.C.A.A. track and field championship meet last month, he had plenty to celebrate: a new personal best time, a national record in his native Guatemala and a ticket to the Olympic Games.
It should have been a joyous occasion. But the 13 minute, 13.14 second effort also created a crisis for Grijalva, who has spent the last several weeks petitioning the United States government to allow him on a plane to Tokyo.
Grijalva is a beneficiary of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program introduced in 2012 by the Obama administration that protects about 650,000 undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as young children from deportation.