Parents: Mother is Nicaragua and Father is American. Couple are married and were together when a vacation was planned Jan 2010. Couple has 2 children, a boy and a girl, both born in Nicaragua. Father took both children to California on vacation in Jan 2010 and returned with only the son. He left the daughter with his father (American citizen) in California without a word to his wife. After this, she separated from him physically but remains married. She hasn't seen her girl since then and is afraid of what the husband might do. She has been severely distraught. I would think that she needs to pursue custody rights in Nicaragua but since I've learned they don't subscribe to the Hague treaty, I'm not sure what good that would do. Question: Might approaching this from the U.S. immigration side be better? Does the child have any legal status here right now? The grandfather is not the legal guardian. How does this work? Thank you so much for your time.

