Post by Jaga on Jun 11, 2009 23:01:18 GMT -7
11-Year-Old Georgia Girl Ordered to Leave U.S. for Poland Over Paperwork Error
The last thing 11-year-old Ewelina Bledniak of Cummings, Ga., had in mind for her summer vacation was a deportation fight.
But Hubert and Agnes Bledniak's daughter, who has been in the U.S. since she was 2 years old, faces getting thrown out of America if she doesn't "voluntarily leave" the country by July 23.
If she doesn't go "home" to Poland — a country she hasn't seen since she was a baby — on her own, she'll be sent back involuntarily and not allowed to return for 10 years.
Ewelina's family came to America in 1999, and her father has become an American citizen. Her mother, a permanent resident, also is seeking to become a citizen. But because of a lawyer's mistake eight years ago, according to the Bledniaks, Ewelina can't stay in the U.S. with her parents.
The Bledniaks say their lawyer failed to file the proper documentation for Ewelina back in 2001 — a mistake that stayed under the radar until the family applied for their daughter's green card. It came back denied, automatically putting Ewelina into deportation proceedings.
"She didn't do anything wrong," said Hubert Bledniak, who moved to Cumming, a small town about an hour north of Atlanta, in 1999 and owns a tile installation business. His wife, Agnes, works at a restaurant.
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525750,00.html
The last thing 11-year-old Ewelina Bledniak of Cummings, Ga., had in mind for her summer vacation was a deportation fight.
But Hubert and Agnes Bledniak's daughter, who has been in the U.S. since she was 2 years old, faces getting thrown out of America if she doesn't "voluntarily leave" the country by July 23.
If she doesn't go "home" to Poland — a country she hasn't seen since she was a baby — on her own, she'll be sent back involuntarily and not allowed to return for 10 years.
Ewelina's family came to America in 1999, and her father has become an American citizen. Her mother, a permanent resident, also is seeking to become a citizen. But because of a lawyer's mistake eight years ago, according to the Bledniaks, Ewelina can't stay in the U.S. with her parents.
The Bledniaks say their lawyer failed to file the proper documentation for Ewelina back in 2001 — a mistake that stayed under the radar until the family applied for their daughter's green card. It came back denied, automatically putting Ewelina into deportation proceedings.
"She didn't do anything wrong," said Hubert Bledniak, who moved to Cumming, a small town about an hour north of Atlanta, in 1999 and owns a tile installation business. His wife, Agnes, works at a restaurant.
www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,525750,00.html
