Can she legally take her across the border or is it kidnapping?

Question

have a cousin who is 12 years old. She has no mother and her father is being deported back to mexico. For the past 8 years she has been living with her stepmother and her dad along with her half brothers. Now that he is going to be deported the most likely situation is that the whole family leaves.

She, my cousin, of course wants to stay here and study and live like a typical american teenager--she is a US citizen. My aunt, her stepmom never adopted her legally. Is there any way that she can legally take her away? If so how?

Also is there anyway I can stop her from taking her to mexico and keeping her here in the US?

Thank you so much for your advice.

20 minutes ago - 3 days left to answer.

Additional Details

10 minutes ago

The mom and dad are illegal. If the whole family leaves it is the mom's decision the only one being deported is the dad.

7 minutes ago

Her father is a 3 time DUII criminal, owes millions in back taxes to the IRS, and is being sued by a contractor for not following up on a job. Does he really have any right?

7 minutes ago

My age is 19 so no I am not a minor.

Answer 1

the stepmother has no legal right to make any choice at all.  I am sure she is a wonderful, caring person, trying to protect the kids, but that does not make her legal to keep the child in the US, against the wishes of the father.  Dad might be in the mafia.. but there isn't any court that has taken away his parental rights. You know and I know he is a crappy person, but WE don't take away his rights. Only a court can do that.

You may not remember Elian Gonzalez, the boy from Cuba, whose mom died when she was crossing to Florida. His father demanded him back, and eventually, the courts ruled that no one had authority to keep the child in the US.  

If stepmom IS legal, then dad does have the right to CHOOSE that the daughter can stay, and give stepmom guardianship. The operative word is choice. If stepmom is also illegal, then she is at risk of being deported as well, and that falls apart.

Anyone who interferes with what dad decides has no legal grounds. I don't think cps could even do anything to stop this.

Just my opinion, mostly from the Gonzalez thing. It is horrible, but if daughter is actually a citizen, that may mean she can re enter later, and have that right. I think she has to be an adult to do this.  

Answer 2

If your cousin is a US citizen, and in most states the age at which a child can have an opinion that has to be considered by the court is around 12 or so, she can have a case to stay. While the other respondent is right in that the biological parents have rights, the fact that he is not a citizen and she it helps tremendously. I am no lawyer and one's advice is always paramount, but I have had experience with this your cousin has an awesome case to stay in the US. I can also tell you this, if he goes back to Mexico without her, there is virtually nothing he can do, b/c he would have to cross the border illegally to make a case. He has no right, unless a federal judge should grant him a border crossing permit for this case, to come back and make a case. Second, even in the worse case scenario, a lawyer could be hired to delay the case until she is 18 and no longer considered a minor anyway. Immigration cases are famous for lasting forever, so this is a very viable option.

Answer 3

Actually, the state line thing, is misinterpreted a lot.

It's mostly only for illegal or sexual purposes.  I can take my niece on a cross county trip.  As long as I'm not doing dirty things to her, it's not a problem.  Actually further, the reason the law was created was so that if in my state the age of consent was 18, and the next state was 16, I couldn't just cross the state line.  Hence the "for sexual purposes" part.

Kidnapping itself is the more common problem, but that has nothing to do with state lines except that instead of state troopers tracking you it's the fbi.  But that's the same with most crimes that cross state lines, involving a minor or not.

Answer 4

Was the girl born in the United States? Are her parents American? If not then she has to go back to where she came from.

Stop coming here illegally then asking for sympathy

Answer 5

Biological parents have the rights.  Step mom's don't mean anything.  Looks that someone's moving to Mexico.  Nice to see people going the other way for a change.  Price to be paid for being here illegally in the first place.