A judge has granted asylum to three children who had faced possible deportation back to Honduras, where a relative allegedly abused them.

Margarito Mejia says his children were smuggled into the country in 2005. For the past three years, the father has worried his pride and joy would be taken away and shipped back to a life of physical and sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, an immigration judge told the family he had no authority to stop the deportation. The Department of Homeland Security refused to step in, claiming it would be encouraging human smuggling if it did.

Mejia's fears were quashed when an immigration judge determined this week the children had faced severe past prosecution and allowed the children to remain in the country.

"There's a lot of bad things in this country and bad people," says David Sperling, Meija's attorney. "We believe the government could use [its] resources more wisely in deciding which cases to prosecute."

Despite suffering setback after setback, the father says he never lost faith.

"Even though it was hard, I knew something was going to be good for us," he says.