A First Coast family, with a daughter who wants to serve in the military, is at risk of being deported after a change implemented by the Trump administration.
The Belkic family is from Bosnia. They came to the U.S. on a visitor visa in 2008. Since then, the family has built a life on the First Coast: The parents are business owners and the daughter, Medina Belkic, who wants nothing more than to serve in the U.S. Navy, is a senior at Nease High School who is about to graduate.
"I wanted to go to the University of Miami and become an anesthesiologist in the Navy," she said.
Medina Belkic, who came to the U.S. when she was 8, is on track to graduate with a 3.5 GPA and an ROTC scholarship to attend college. She said she is living the American Dream... until graduation.
Immigration officials have ordered the Belkic family to leave the country after she graduates in May.
"Give us a chance to prove ourselves and to live here because my children, they don't know anything else besides this wonderful country," said mother Amra Blekic.
Amra Blekic said she applied for asylum, but was denied by a judge because Bosnia is no longer considered a dangerous country. Now, they said they are in immigration limbo and at the mercy of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.
"I don't have a backup plan because I think we are not the right people that should be deported," Amra Blekic said.
First Coast News reached out to the family's attorney who said they had a deportation order since 2013. However, under the Obama administration, they were allowed to stay in the U.S. for being non-criminals. The Trump administration ended the discretionary policy and the attorney said they could soon be deported. Thousands across the country are in similar situations.