The family is from Yemen, one of the seven countries where immigration to the U.S. is suspended. The father is a U.S. Citizen, but his 12-year-old daughter has a Yemeni passport.
They had to wait seven years before securing a visa Thursday, and the family was set to fly from Djibouti Saturday but was not allowed to board the plane.
Their immigration lawyer says the family is now stuck in an east Africa hotel.
"It's frustrating," lawyer Katy Lewis said. "We are trying to get a solution now, but it shows how overboard this order was. Clearly, there's no security concern for a 12-year-old child."
The father is the manager of a local Los Banos store and is the primary source of income for his family.
His lawyer says it's too dangerous for them to go back to Yemen.