A four-year-old Long Island girl who had been sent to Guatemala with her grandfather in a de facto deportation is returning to the U.S., and in first class, her family's lawyer told the Daily News.
Emily Ruiz, a U.S. citizen from Brentwood, was sent to Guatemala on March 11, when she and her grandfather were stopped at Washington's Dulles Airport on their way back to New York after a visit with relatives.
Customs agents took Ruiz's grandfather into custody, and told Ruiz's father that the girl could be held at a juvenile facility or returned to Guatemala, according to the News.
The girl's father feared she could be given up for adoption, and decided to send her back to Guatemala, the Daily News said.
Ruiz is expected back in Long Island this week.
