ATTLEBORO -- He came, as so many before, across the border. Manny Salguero says he was fleeing a civil war in his country when he entered the United States in the back of a truck in 1991. Some of Salguero's cousins and uncles were among the victims of the smoldering struggle.

Although he technically entered the country illegally, Salguero says he has followed the rules of the Unit ed States by applying for asylum and obtaining work permits that have allowed him to get and keep a good job at a local metal products compa ny.

Salguero has two children with his long-time companion, Ana Velasquez -- 7-year-old Leslie, a kindergartner, and 8-year-old David, who has cere bral palsy and is severely disabled.

Ana is currently pregnant with their third child.

But the Spanish-speaking man doesn't know how long he'll be able to remain in the United States to care for David, who requires 24-hour attention, and the rest of his family. Last fall, the government tried to deport him although intervention by a community action program helped win Salguero a two-year extension. He only recently received a new temporary work permit.

Salguero isn't on track for a green card that would prolong his ability to stay in the United States. Unless something happens, Salguero could be sent home two years from now. He'd most likely have to leave behind Ana and the two children -- both American citizens.

Trina Bigham, an advocate from Family Partnerships of the Southeast which works with families with profoundly disabled children, said David would most likely die if Salguero was forced to return to Guatemala with his family.

`` David requires constant care,'' Bigham said. `` The type of medical care that he needs simply isn't available in Guatemala.''

If Salguero were sent home and Ana and the children were forced to remain alone in the United States, Bigham said, Ana's income alone would not be enough to support them. Taxpayers would end up subsidizing the family and David's health care, which is now paid by Salguero's employer.

Meanwhile, Salguero and Ana are paying income taxes to the state and federal government from their jobs.

`` Any way you look at it, it doesn't make sense to send Manny home,'' Bigham said.

Salguero, through an interpreter, said he's dutifully renewed his work permit each year and paid thousands of dollars to lawyers to seek a green card and permanent status in this country -- without success.

But Salguero said his big problems began when he was notified by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in 2002 that he could no longer stay in this country.

`` They said there was no more war,'' Salguero said. The Attleboro man's work permit was also taken away, and he was told to report to immigration officials every three months.

That's where it stood until last October, when he was notified to appear for a court hearing. Salguero was told he would have to return to his home country.

That's when Bigham stepped in.

The family advocate compiled a booklet about Salguero's plight, including letters from David's doctor and Salguero's employer, extolling the Guatemalan immigrant and begging immigration officials and Homeland Security administrators not to send him away.

The booklets were sent to immigration officials, congressmen's offices and anyone else who might have an impact on the decision.

Salguero was notified earlier this year that his deportation had been stayed until 2008.

Salguero's relief at being allowed to stay is tempered by bitterness in a man who once saw himself welcomed as a refugee but feels he is being thrown away.

He said an immigration judge in Boston insulted his family and that a state Registry of Motor Vehicles worker once tore up his paperwork when he applied for his Massachusetts license.

While he may not have been born in the United States, Salguero says he and his family have worked hard and paid their own way. He says he doesn't understand why they are being treated so badly.

`` The United States lectures other countries on human rights,'' he said through an interpreter. `` Where are my human rights?''

Although the guerrilla war that wracked Guatemala for more than 30 years is technically over, Salguero says many of the thugs who abused his family and killed his relatives are still there.

`` They used to be in the country,'' he said. `` Now they are no longer there. They have gone to the city, instead.''

Salguero said he fears retribution from still-existing violent factions in his country.

Salguero said he grew up with nothing in his home country.

`` We lived in the fields,'' he said.

As a boy, to get money for pencils and supplies for school, Salguero said he would sell fruits and vegetables on the street.

On leaving Guatemala 15 years ago, Salguero first arrived in California, but later was attracted by word of a thriving Guatemalan community in Massachusetts.

He met Ana through her father, a co-worker who was bringing his daughter to the United States after immigrating earlier, himself. Ana, now 28, had just finished high school in Guatemala when she arrived in Rhode Island 11 years ago.

`` I met her at the airport,'' Salguero said.

They fell in love.

When David was born eight years ago, the couple had no idea the extent to which their son would be impaired. A premature baby, David was born blind and weighed only one pound. He spent five months in the hospital before coming home.

The boy, who is also mentally retarded, has never spoken and is unable to walk. Salguero and Anna work opposite shifts so that there will always be someone at home to care for the children.

Any action that would prevent both of David's parents from providing care might produce serious complications for the boy's health, said Dr. David Ammerman, who has been caring for the child.

`` It is my belief that it is in David's best interest that he be cared for by his parents, given his complex medical needs,'' Ammerman wrote in a 2005 letter. `` It would be detrimental to his health to lose the care that his father provides.''

Without both parents available to care for David, Ammerman wrote, the boy might eventually have to be institutionalized or sent to a pediatric nursing home.

Salguero is also receiving support from his employer, Belcher Corp., where he works the second shift as a group leader in the finishing department.

Maria Williams, vice president of human services at the company, said Salguero has been instrumental in helping the company maintain a `` lean and efficient'' operation on the night shift and has performed `` above and beyond'' his duties.

`` It would be a great loss to Belcher to lose him,'' Williams wrote.