Mayra

Her birth-mother is an American citizen, born in Texas, a current resident in Georgia. So are her siblings. She's been in this country legally, and she's never cost you a red cent in tax money. These are facts you need to know, right from the get-go.

Her name is . Her features are as decisively Hispanic as her name. Her accent is more southern belle than Mexicana, only a hint of Hispanic twang in her words. There is a disarming charm in her smile. She stands five-foot nuthin, yet always looks you right in the eye when she speaks.

She plays soccer, makes good grades, and collects coats for homeless kids. She concerns herself with the needs of others more than her own. While these are traits aren't acquired solely from her "adopted" family, they are certainly encouraged at home. Will and Kim Helms rate among the most respectable people I know. That they would open their home to a kid like Mayra comes as no surprise to me. The depth of their conviction to God, to their family and to helping others is truly humbling.

Wasn't too long before Kim and Will became "Mom and Dad." She is part of the family now. OK, so she's the only one who doesn't need SPF 45 in the summertime, but an irreplaceable part of the family nonetheless. Mayra brought as much happiness and laughter to the house as she received.

This is not just another column to me. These are my friends. I have known the Helmses for a decade. Will teaches my Sunday School class. Kim taught my kids about Jesus at summer camp. I've fought fire for years with Kim's brother, helped Katrina refugees in a shelter managed by her mom and dad. Mayra and her sisters Destiny and Emily are the kind of girls that I want my own daughter hanging out with. Good role models, light-up-the-room kids who are fun to be around.

This is not just another illegal immigration case.  Since 1998 there's nothing illegal about Mayra's presence in this country. She was born in Mexico, but to a Texas born, red, white and blue American citizen. She's lived here since she was 7. She went to school in Conyers, then Loganville, and has the records to prove it. She has a legitimate Social Security card. There shouldn't be a problem.

But there is a problem. When Mayra came to live with the Helmses in 2007, they discovered there was no documentation done on her at the border when she came into the country nine years before. Her mother, Maria, simply presented her birth certificate to the border guard, who waved mom and daughter through without actually checking the girl.

Maria assumed no problem, and so for years nothing was done about it, until Will and Kim became her legal guardians. Being responsible people, they set to correcting the problem. Several options were on the table, but they were advised to seek citizenship, based on the simple fact that her mother was an American citizen. Bureaucracy being what it is, they had to withdraw that application on a technicality. Turns out Maria had lived outside the country for a while prior to Mayra's birth.

No problemo, they were told. Apply for a green card instead. Mayra was 15 at the time, so they filled the forms out. The forms came back, on the grounds that they were outdated. They were given the new forms (the sum of the difference was four lines), filled them out, and waited.

And waited. And waited. And waited.

Three years later, they were abruptly denied, with no chance of appeal. Stated cause: The border guard didn't check her at the border years ago. Instead, he performed what is commonly referred to as a "wave-through." Suddenly there's a big problemo...She's now over 18; adoption is off the table.

Unless somebody steps in, she will soon be forced to return to Juarez, a dangerous place where she knows no one, and is unfamiliar with the culture. Maybe she can live with an aunt she barely knows. Maybe.

"I've got nowhere to go," she told me.

For the past 12 years, she's been here legally. Barring a miracle, she soon won't be.

I asked Will why he cared so much. Now, Will is the kind of man who typically takes a moment to collect his thoughts before he answers a question. But instead he gives me a kind of wounded look, like I had just asked him something truly absurd.

"She's my daughter."

Why do I care? She's his daughter. She's done nothing wrong, and she's got nowhere to go. This kid is as American as apple pie. Well, apple pie with a touch of salsa, but apple pie nonetheless. This is a human issue, a family about to be split up, and a bureaucracy that not only won't help, but actually caused the problem to begin with.

It just ain't right. I want to help; I hope you do, too.