It's a race against the clock for a family fighting to keep their 4-year old son, Daniel "Danny" Diaz, in the United States. He was denied permanent residency three days ago and could be deported before Thanksgiving.
The Diaz family is working to raise the money they need to file an immigration appeal and hire an attorney.
"You turn on the news every day and you see the problems with immigration and I never thought, hey be careful this might happen to you and it has," Holly Diaz, appealing her step son's U.S. residency denial.
This wasn't how holly Diaz pictured things going when she met her future husband Jose in the Dominican Republic three years ago.
"Jose got his work visa in three months and got his permanent residency in a year. And we didn't hear anything, didn't have to re-do anything, it was simple, easy, done," said Diaz.
But the process wasn't so fast for Jose's four-year-old son Danny who was stuck in the Dominican Republic.
The federal government granted Danny a temporary stay while waiting for his permanent residency request to be processed.
Diaz said, "then they just put it through the system, I don't know who sees it there and then we just wait."
And they kept waiting for two-and-a-half years before getting the official denial three days ago.
Holly told News 10's Alani Letang the government told her there is an error somewhere in the paperwork, but won't say where.
Without a lawyer to handle the appeal, her step-son may be headed back overseas.
"This is not OK, he's our son, he's been here since he was two years old, this is his family. And just the thought that at a drop of a hat he can be sent to a life he doesn't know and something has to change," said Diaz.
The Diaz family has until November 2nd to get their appeal filed with the government, otherwise, their son could be deported within 30 days of the denial.
FOX 47 News checked with the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, a spokesperson said they cannot comment on specific immigration cases.
The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help raise money for Danny's appeal and lawyer.
CLICK LINK BELOW:
LINK: Danny's GoFundMe
