WSMV Channel 4 Illegal immigrant mired in tricky child custody case

Illegal immigrant mired in tricky child custody case

A father says he is being asked to do something he can't legally do in order to get custody of his little girl.

Now the child is in foster care, and the dad faces losing her forever.

The man, who we'll call Mr. O to protect his identity, is an illegal immigrant, and for some, that's his fault and he must pay the consequences. But in the middle of this, his 2-year-old daughter is close to losing her dad forever.

Mr. O fears he will be deported any day; nevertheless, he has hired attorney Andrew Egan to fight for him and to get his daughter back.

"He's fighting hard. He's established a wonderful relationship with his daughter, despite the obstacles that he set. He's fighting hard to get his child back. He loves her and I think that's what matters," Egan said.

Mr. O is not accused of mistreating his daughter. His soon to be ex-wife lost custody of the child, and he wants her back.

The Department of Child Services said he can have his daughter back if he obtains a Tennessee driver's license.

His lawyers say that is impossible.

"The state is requiring my client to be a licensed driver as one of the requirements to regain custody of his child," Egan said. "And my client is undocumented. It is legally impossible for him to accomplish what they require for him to regain custody of his child. He cannot get a driver's license."

He can only get his driver's license if he can reenter the United States legally. That means he must go back to Mexico, but he has to be there for two years.

Then, he would come back to the U.S., but it would be too late. He would have technically abandoned his child and he would lose her to adoption.

DCS says its workers did not necessarily know Mr. O was illegal, but they cannot comment on the case.

As far as connecting driver's licenses with being a good dad, DCS says in a statement:

"Every permanency plan is tailored to that family or that case, and remember the court ratifies that plan."

Egan says a driver's license should not be a requirement for being deemed a good parent in the first place.

"It is obviously not a requirement to have a driver's license to be a good and successful parent," Egan said.

Tonight, Carla Aaron from DCS, who is in charge of permanency plans for the state, says, "It is never the intent of DCS to set conditions the guardian can't meet."

So does that mean Mr. O gets a new plan? Officials did not have a comment on that.

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