Thread: U.S. Returns Young Girl, a Citizen, to Guatemala

U.S. Returns Young Girl, a Citizen, to Guatemala

By SAM DOLNICK
Published: March 22, 2011

Leonel Ruiz, a landscaper in Brentwood, N.Y., was waiting at Kennedy International Airport on the early morning of March 11 for his 4-year-old daughter, Emily, to arrive home from a trip to Guatemala. The plane arrived hours late, but Emily was not on it, and neither was her grandfather, who was supposed to be escorting her back.

Emily Ruiz, 4, was born here, the child of illegal immigrants.

Leonel Ruiz, the father of Emily Ruiz, came to the United States illegally in 1996 because, he said, "we were in a very poor situation in my country."

It took several hours for Mr. Ruiz to learn what had happened. Emily, a United States citizen, and her grandfather, a Guatemalan traveling with a valid work visa, had been detained by immigration authorities at Dulles International Airport near Washington, where the plane had been diverted because of bad weather. The officials had told Emily’s grandfather that because of an immigration infraction two decades ago, he would not be allowed to stay in the country.

That has left Emily, a pigtailed native of Long Island, in an unusual limbo. As a citizen, she has the right to re-enter her country. But her parents are illegal immigrants, which has complicated the prospect of a reunion.

Today, Emily is in Guatemala, her parents are struggling to bring her home, and lawyers and federal officials are arguing over parental responsibility and citizenship rights. The Ruizes find themselves on the front lines of a heated immigration debate: how to treat families in which the parents are here illegally, while their children, born in the United States, are citizens.

The case comes as elected officials across the country have pushed for bills to end automatic citizenship for children, born here, who are sometimes referred to pejoratively as anchor babies. Immigrant advocates say the proposals are antithetical to American ideals.

There are two conflicting versions of the Ruiz story. Officials at Customs and Border Protection say they offered Mr. Ruiz the chance to pick up Emily at the airport, but he “elected to have her return to Guatemala with her grandfather.â€

You make your bed, you sleep in it.

I don't care if the mother cried. She and the father knew exactly what they were doing. They knew there was a risk that they might be deported and their child would be in limbo. I think this is an excellent solution. If illegal aliens have a child here, the kid becomes a ward of the state and is put up for adoption. This would scare some illegals away from having anchor babies.

I have said it before and I will say it again..I don't care if it's the damn law, any child born in the U.S. to illegals will NEVER be considered a U.S. citizen to me!

That has left Emily, a pigtailed native of Long Island, in an unusual limbo. As a citizen, she has the right to re-enter her country. But her parents are illegal immigrants, which has complicated the prospect of a reunion.

I've got an idea. Why don't you illegal parents go to her, then stay there.

I feel sorry for kids born to illegals, but that does not give a good reason to allow children who will be taught as they grow up to hate us, to stay here as citizens.

Originally Posted by tinybobidaho

That has left Emily, a pigtailed native of Long Island, in an unusual limbo. As a citizen, she has the right to re-enter her country. But her parents are illegal immigrants, which has complicated the prospect of a reunion.

I've got an idea. Why don't you illegal parents go to her, then stay there.

If they really loved the child that's exactly what they would do.

Or is she just another jackpot to keep them on welfare for years?

If they really loved her this story would not have even made it into the papers because they would have already been down there with her.

Just goes to show how much these illegals could care less about their off-spring except when the child can get them bennies here in the good ole U.S.

I suspect they are working on their next anchor as we speak!

so the parents are illegal. how about they be arrested and deported so that way, they can all be reunited as a family in Guatemala

How did the grandfather obtain a "valid work visa" if he had immigration infractions that prevented him from legally entering the USA?

What a friggin mess this has become in this country; all because illegal invaders are allowed to invade this country and have American citizenship bestowed upon their anchor spawn!

Something must change and fast!

Sounds to me the issue is that daddy didn't understand the language of our country when the agenda spoke to him. Not our problem then.

You don't go to China or Japan or any non western country w/o knowing the language, having an interpretation dictionary, or someone to translate for you. WE need to expect the same, don't speak our language don't expect service in yours.