South Georgia Man Could Be Deported (WCTV-GA)

South Georgia Man Could Be Deported
A South Georgia family is nearing the end of a 14 year struggle for U.S. citizenship.
Posted: 6:26 PM May 11, 2011
Reporter: Donnitra Gilbert

20-year-old Jonathon Treloar just returned from helping with disaster relief in Tennessee. Now he's picking up the pieces in his own life.

"Your friends are driving around and picking what college they want to go to, and you're in limbo if I just get that piece of paper maybe I can do this," says Treloar.

That's because Treloar is just months away from being deported if he's not granted citizenship.

As the middle child in a family of five, Treloar was born in Australia and moved with his family to the U.S. back in 1996.

His mother Scarlett was born in America and his father and three of his siblings have already obtained the papers needed to stay in the U.S. Treloar is still waiting.

Fourteen years, two denial letters and more than 25 trips to Atlanta and the Treloar family is still in the same position.

The Executive Office for Immigration Review released a statement saying:

"Each individual immigration case is handled on a case-by-case basis with many different variables and outcomes. An individual who has never before been encountered by I.C.E. would be afforded due process and would have the opportunity to present his or her case before an impartial immigration judge."

"It seems if you go by the system that they've set in place, it's a frustrating process," says Jonathan's father Graeme Treloar.

"I'm hoping that this story gets out and we can find a way to stop all of this and help other families as well," says Jonathan's mother Scarlett Treloar.

Treloar says he'll go before a judge in the coming weeks and if he's not granted citizenship he will be deported in six months.

The Treloars say they've spent more than 20-thousand dollars so far in efforts to get U.S. citizenship for their son.