Sudanese family reunites in New York

NEW YORK, June 16 (UPI) -- A 4-year-old Sudanese girl and her parents have reunited after convincing U.S. immigration officials to let her leave Darfur for New York, sources said.

Wesal Adam arrived from a refugee camp Monday, landing at John F. Kennedy International Airport after more than two years of separation from Motasim and Wejdan Adam, her father and mother, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

The Adams, who now live in Brooklyn, sought asylum in the United States after Motasim was imprisoned in Sudan for criticizing the Sudanese government, the Times reported.

Motasim was granted asylum in 2002 and came to New York. Wejdan was granted asylum two years later as his wife. Wesal was denied asylum because she was conceived after her father was granted asylum, and outside the United States, while her mother lived in a refugee camp, Alan Lungen, the family's lawyer, said.

U.S. immigration law mandates a relationship between applicants for asylum and their children must exist at the time an asylum application is approved, Lungen said.

In 2006, Wesal's mother made a painful decision to leave her with friends in the Darfur refugee camp.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last month granted Wesal a "humanitarian parole," which allowed her to come to New York, her father said.

"It's almost like something impossible happened," Motasim Adam said of his daughter's arrival Monday.