An Australian woman will not be allowed to stay in the U.S. after an incident involving her son brought the fact that she is an illegal immigrant to the attention of the authorities. Tracey Washington and her two sons were labeled illegal immigrants after she failed to apply for a green card before the official cut-off point. She claims she was given the wrong information by immigration officials.

The situation may not have come to a head if Mrs. Washington’s 13-year-old-son had not allegedly punched one of his classmates before taking 53 cents from him. San Francisco has a policy whereby juvenile authorities were required to turn the boy over to officials from the federal U.S. Immigration and Customs. The new rules were implemented after the city was accused of being a safe haven for illegal immigrants.

Mrs. Washington and her two sons are due to return to Australia this Friday. She had originally moved to San Francisco last February so that she could marry Charles Washington with whom she had a six year relationship. Although the police became involved after the parents of the victim of the 53 cents robbery asked them to, the Lawyer representing Mrs. Washington has said that the whole thing was just a prank. She went on to point out that nobody had been hurt and that Mrs. Washington’s son had already apologised for the incident.

Mr. Washington will have to remain behind in the U.S. because there is a custody agreement in place between him and his ex-wife over the care of their daughter.