German who faced deportation graduates

PANDORA, Ohio (AP) -- Five months ago when he was sitting in jail facing deportation, Manuel Bartsch didn't know if he would ever make it to his high school graduation.
Friday night the 18-year-old German teenager, whose immigration case rallied private citizens and politicians across the state, lined up with the rest of his 42 classmates at Pandora-Gilboa High School southwest of Toledo to receive his diploma.
"To me the American dream means to be able stand up for what I believe is right," Bartsch said. "This community did exactly that, and for that I want to thank each and every one of you for being behind me 110 percent."
Bartsch learned he was in the U.S. illegally in December when he was jailed for 16 days after trying to find out his Social Security number so he could take a college entrance exam.
His case prompted an outpouring of support for the teen, and at the graduation ceremony, Bartsch grew emotional when he thanked Cleveland immigration lawyer David Leopold, who took the case free of charge.
A native of Esselbach, Germany, Bartsch traveled to Ohio in 1997 on a 90-day visa with a U.S. citizen, Toby Deal, who took custody of Bartsch in Germany when Bartsch's grandmother died.