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GREENSBORO — From October 2008  to this January, Moises Campos-Palencia  rarely saw his family and almost lost his business. And he spent more than $30,000  to get back to the only home he’d really known — the United States.

Campos-Palencia, 27 , was deported to Mexico in October 2008  after a traffic stop revealed the Greensboro business owner had an outstanding deportation order. It stemmed from when he was about 14 or 15  and had agreed to leave voluntarily after his parents were deported to Mexico. Campos-Palencia was 9  when his parents smuggled him across the border.

Campos-Palencia won the right to return to the country legally in January.

“When I got my visa stamped, the same day I flew back,” Campos-Palencia said.

He took a taxi across the border to El Paso, Texas. From there he flew to Raleigh, where his 5-year-old daughter Alexandra  waited with flowers and chocolate. His flight arrived around midnight Jan. 28 , delayed for 30 minutes because of bad weather.

“I was very excited to be back with my family,” Campos-Palencia said. “Every time I was in Mexico, I would be imagining that day.”

His type of story is familiar among advocates for immigration reform, who will march on Washington today  to plead their case again.

Part of that case: Many immigrants brought to the United States as children find themselves deported to a country they don’t remember. Last year, children made up about 12 percent  of the unauthorized immigrant population, according to an estimate by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security .

 The path to legal status can be long and difficult, said Jeremy McKinney , a Greensboro attorney who specializes in immigration law and represented Campos-Palencia. His client faced a 10-year  ban on returning to the United States, but McKinney filed for a waiver.

He argued that Campos-Palencia was too young to understand the process at the time he agreed to leave and had since grown into a respected businessman and resident.

“Basically, Homeland Security can grant a pardon, can cut someone a break and let them come back,” McKinney said. “And that’s what happened here.”

Campos-Palencia’s business became a big factor in his client’s favor, McKinney said.

The family struggled to maintain the small car audio shop on High Point Road after his deportation. The business suffered several break-ins and theft from employees and had to lay off some workers, Campos-Palencia said.

He started the business eight years ago selling car stereo equipment at a flea market. After three years, he opened his own shop.

His wife, Nayelli Campos, 29 , took over while her husband was in Mexico.

“I didn’t have that knowledge of sales,” she said.

Her family tried to help, but the business continued to founder . Then Campos-Palencia’s relatives stepped in, taking turns driving from Cumberland County to run the shop.

Current laws don’t provide for someone in that situation to stay in the states while waiting for their legal situation to resolve, McKinney said.

Campos-Palencia and his wife feel lucky that they could afford the process, and the half-dozen trips to Mexico so they could spend some time together as a family.

Plenty of other families in similar situations don’t have the money, they said. And many of them never got the OK like he did to return to the United States, Campos-Palencia said.

He would like to see the U.S. immigration system take a closer look at each immigrant’s situation. There are people like him, who were brought here as children, who Campos-Palencia said shouldn’t be punished for something that wasn’t their decision.

Consider all that a person has done, he said, before sending them back to a country that is little more than a distant memory.

Campos-Palencia plans to apply for U.S. citizenship when he becomes eligible in a couple of years. He’s glad that he’ll be able to watch his daughter grow up and have an opportunity to give her an education.

“I just look forward to grow my business,” he said. “And grow also with my family, too.”

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com