News: Four-Year-Old Brentwood Girl Deported
(Long Island, N.Y.) A four-year-old girl from Brentwood was sent back to Guatemala after having been detained at an airport in Washington D.C. The girl was born in this country, granting her automatic status as an American citizen. Her parents, both undocumented residents, were waiting for her return to JFK airport during her detainment.
The girl was traveling with her grandfather, and had gone to her parents’ native Guatemala during the winter for a warmer climate. She suffers from asthma, and her parents thought it would be best to keep her away from harsh conditions. With the weather improving, she and her grandfather were set to return on March 11th.
Poor weather conditions had their flight to JFK delayed and they were taken to Dulles International Airport in Washington D.C. It was there that they ran into trouble with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. It was discovered that the grandfather had previously entered the country illegally in the 1990s. Some reports claim they were held for at least a day.
Reports are conflicting concerning what caused the pair to be sent back to Guatemala. Some reports say that the grandfather was traveling with a viable work visa, the girl’s passport, and a notarized letter from the girl’s parents giving him permission to escort her into the country. Other reports say that the visa was not valid, and that customs was following standard procedure.
The grandfather allegedly suffered from a panic attack following the hours of detainment in the Washington D.C. airport. When he had to be hospitalized, customs was left with the question of where to place the girl.
Some reports argue that as a citizen, the girl should have been granted due process and immediately reunited with her parents. They claim that the US Customs and Border Patrol has discretion over which cases they ultimately pursue with deportation, and could have made it easier for the girl to have returned home.
The girl’s parents, who had been waiting for her at the airport, began to worry when her flight arrived without her and her grandfather. Some reports say that the couple spoke little English, while others claim that the father spoke passable English. When they realized their daughter had been detained at the airport, her father made contact with customs officials.
Her father stated that he was never given the option of picking up his daughter, which was something he would have preferred to do. Instead, his fear of being detained and deported himself kept him from action. He stated that US Customs and Border Patrol Officials told him he could either allow her to accompany her grandfather back to Guatemala or turn her over to the custody of Virginia in a juvenile center. He chose to have her remain with her grandfather.
Other reports have stated that customs did give the father the option of picking up his daughter. Nonetheless, the girl wound up traveling back to Guatemala with her grandfather. This case, which broke on March 16th, has raised the issue of automatic American citizenship while some parts of the country are pushing legislation to make it harder for children to become citizens.
The family’s Long Island Wins Columnist and Immigration lawyer is taking the case pro-bono. He accuses US Customs and Border Patrol of treating the child as an anchor baby and second-class citizen. He intends on traveling back to Guatemala to return the child.
