After 13 years of fighting to stay in his adopted country, Jos茅 Figueroa is a Canadian.

On Oct. 19, in Vancouver, the Langley City resident was sworn in at a small ceremony in front of family and friends, calling it 害羞草研究所渢he seal to many years of struggle for justice.害羞草研究所�

Figueroa spent more than two years living in sanctuary at the Walnut Grove Lutheran Church in Langley after he was ordered deported to his native El Salvador over his involvement with an anti-government group.

害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 very happy 害羞草研究所� very happy,害羞草研究所� he told the Langley Advance Times.

害羞草研究所淭he ceremony puts an end to all those years of uncertainty,害羞草研究所� Figueroa added.

His wife, Ivania, received her Canadian citizenship last year.

害羞草研究所淚 was a guest at that one,害羞草研究所� he recalled.

His was delayed because he still had some bureaucratic hoops to jump, including a puzzling demand for new fingerprints that he complied with.

害羞草研究所淚 didn害羞草研究所檛 make any fuss about it,害羞草研究所� he said.

READ ALSO:

Figueroa came to Canada, legally, 25 years ago from El Salvador.

His three children, Jos茅 Jr., Esmeralda and Ruby were born at Langley Memorial Hospital.

But then, in 2010, Figueroa害羞草研究所檚 request to become a permanent resident of Canada was denied, based on his support of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a group fighting the dictatorship in his home country, when he was a university student.

Immigration Canada determined that his affiliation with FMLN was reason enough to consider him a risk and he was ordered deported, even though FMLN went on to become the government of El Salvador and was not on any terrorist list within Canada.

After Canadian Border Services Agency put out a warrant for his arrest, Figueroa sought sanctuary in the Walnut Grove church.

READ ALSO:

Figueroa ended his two years of sanctuary on Dec. 23, 2015, his birthday, making a tearful departure from the church after John McCallum, the new federal immigration minister, overturned the decision that had declared Figueroa inadmissible to Canada.

READ ALSO:

Now 55, Figueroa estimates he has spent more than 25 years fighting to remain in Canada.

Now that the battle is over, he said his feeling is one of 害羞草研究所渏ust relief,害羞草研究所� and he wants his Canadian record cleared of any mention of the deportation order.

害羞草研究所淚t should be removed, or at least a notation [should be added] that it no longer applies.害羞草研究所�

Figueroa was studying to become a lawyer, but said he had to give it up, in order to find work to support his family.