A 21-year-old Harvard student who took his dying mother to Mexico to receive treatment and in turn violated immigration rules has been granted permission to return to the United States after being stranded for months.

Dario Guerrero Meneses and his mother left Long Beach in July to find medical help in Mexico when chemotherapy had failed, aware that his illegal status could prevent him from ever returning to United States once he left.

“I don't think I’d be able to forgive myself for letting her basically continue the decline in her condition,” Meneses said.

Meneses mother died in August.

The third-year Harvard student arrived in the U.S. illegally but had been granted reprieve from deportation under the Dream Act. When Meneses left the U.S. without getting permission to leave, he violated those terms. When he tried to return, his attempts were denied.

“Unfortunately it’s been very sad what happened to him…but I think that is going to make him stronger,” his father Dario Guerrero Sr. said.

Tuesday, Meneses was granted permission to return home.

“I think he's the reason we have immigration. He fits why we have a statue of liberty and why we want people to immigrate to the United States,” lawyer Alan Klein said.

Meneses is expected to return to Long Beach in a few weeks. He will have to reapply for the Dream Act, a process that could take several months.