Attorneys for an Ohio teenager who converted to Christianity and ran away to Florida say her Muslim parents are standing in the way of her effort to fight deportation.
Seventeen-year-old Rifqa Bary is an illegal immigrant and does not want to be returned to her native Sri Lanka.
Her attorneys asked a judge in Columbus on Monday to sign an order stating that reunification with her parents is not possible by her 18th birthday in August. The order would allow Bary, who is in foster care, to apply for special immigration status without her parents' consent.
The judge declined to issue the order without first holding a hearing next month.
The attorney for Bary's parents says they have filed an immigration application for the whole family.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.