Four Year-Old American Emily Ruiz Attempts Re-Entry From Guatemala, Again

Four year-old American Emily Ruiz is attempting to reunite with her parents in New York today after being denied entry into the country two and a half weeks ago on a flight from Guatemala. Above, Emily sits in her Guatemala city hotel room yesterday with her Aunt Rebeca. In the below video, taken yesterday by Long Island WINS editor Ted Hesson, who flew to Guatemala City to meet Emily, Emily plays with a new flight attendant doll in that same hotel room.

Emily's ordeal started on March 11 of this year. After spending five months in Guatemala with her grandparents recuperating from asthma, Emily was escorted on a flight to the U.S. by her Guatemalan grandfather. Her parents, who are undocumented on Long Island, remained in the States.

At Dulles airport in Northern Virginia, Emily's grandfather was denied entry because of on a twenty year-old immigration infraction. Emily went into custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection and her father was allegedly told they had two choices: Emily could be placed in a children's facility in Virginia, or she could return to Guatemala with her grandfather. They chose the latter.

But a government spokesperson says they gave Emiliy's parents the option to pick up their daughter. Since Emily's father, Leonel Ruiz, doesn't speak much English, and the immigration officer didn't speak any Spanish (what?), Emily's dad says he's not sure that was an option given to him.

Today Emily is on her way back to the U.S. with her lawyer David Sperling who is also a columnist for immigration communications group Long Island WINS. They, along with Emily's parents, have been working diligently to rectify this situation. 

Source: CNN, Long Island WINS

Photo: Flickr