[5] After her arrest, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement learned that Ms. Chafin had overstayed her visa, and she was deported.

There, following a bench trial, the district court granted her request, ordering that the daughter be returned to Scotland.

Specifically, the Convention seeks "to establish procedures to ensure [the] prompt return [of children] to the State of their habitual residence.

[14][15] The District Court, in keeping with the United States' obligation under the convention, decided that the Chafins' daughter should be returned to Scotland, which was her habitual residence.

[14] However, the Convention does not address the situation that arose in this case, where one party seeks to contest a finding of the child's "habitual residency".

Thus, in a decision authored by John Roberts, it held that the American judicial system could still order her to return the child.

[19] Such attempts to evade American jurisdiction could prompt judges to stay their rulings as a preventative measure to retain jurisdiction, in which case "a child would lose precious months when she could have been readjusting to life in her country of habitual residence, even though the appeal has little chance of success.