The Missouri Supreme Court ruled last that a state court violated Missouri law when it terminated the parental rights of an undocumented Guatemalan woman after she was imprisoned in 2007 following an immigration sting at a poultry processing plant.

The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the trial court, which granted allowed an American couple from Carthage to adopt the woman's son without her consent.

The American couple has raised the boy, who is now four, since he was younger than two years old. The Guatemalan woman-who also has a 13-year-old son and an 8-year-old daughter-has not seen her son since May of 2007 when he was taken from her.

The woman reportedly had gained illegal entry to the United States, stole a social security card and began working at a poultry processing plant shortly after her arrival. After being busted by immigration agents in 2007, she was put in prison when her son was 6 months old. The boy was cared for at first by her brother and sister, who later sought help from a couple offering baby-sitting services. But when the couple asked to adopt him, the boy's mother refused. The couple then took the boy to his current adoptive parents and placed him up for adoption, and a request was made for temporary adoption.

After obtaining temporary custody, the couple waited a year before asking for adoption, which is 6 months beyond the six-month requirement under Missouri law.

The boy's mother never objected to the couple gaining custody of the child, but says that she didn't fully understand what was happening. She also said she wrote a letter from her jail cell which indicated that she preferred to see the child in foster care until she was freed.

In our next post, we'll continue looking at this story and the Supreme Court's recent decision.