in 2004 he returned to new york as a high school junior and struggled to put down roots for himself. friends in his after-school technology club became his family, and he excelled in robotics. in 2006, during his senior year of high school, his east harlem team won a regional robot-building competition. ly, who had no government-issued identification, was unable to fly with his teammates to the national finals in atlanta, georgia. more importantly, he faced a bigger problem that the publicity forced him to reveal: he had no legal status to remain in the united states. the staff supervising the technology club rallied to send him by train, and contacted the media for help on his immigration status. public officials and others called on the department of homeland security to allow him to stay in the country. a long immigration battle ensued, and he was granted citizenship to live in the united states, which enabled him to go on to college.