Vladimir Fardin
A 9-year-old Haitian boy could be separated from his older brother by immigration officers on Tuesday, according to their attorney, despite having visas to enter the US.
Milli Atkinson, legal director at the San Francisco Immigrant Legal Defense Collaborative, said the two brothers had been detained by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at San Francisco International Airport since Sunday afternoon.
Vladimir Fardin, 9, was planning on visiting California with his brother Christian Laporte, 19, who is a student at Diablo Valley College in the Bay Area. Fardin was traveling on a tourist visa and Laporte was entering the US on a student visa. However, CBP detained and took away their visas because Laporte was missing an I-20 form, which proves a student has been admitted to a school full-time and that they have sufficient money to stay in the US.