GREEN RIVER, Utah -- A teenager will represent Utah in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May while his parents follow the results from India, where they were deported after living in the United States for 16 years.

Kunal Sah, 13, is living in this small town with an uncle in a Ramada Inn, which was owned by his parents, Ken and Sarita Sah.

"It's very tough. He calls every day and he cries. ... We try to make him feel better and stronger," Ken Sah told The Salt Lake Tribune from New Delhi.

Kunal was born in the United States and is a U.S. citizen.

His bedroom at the Ramada is decorated with trophies from spelling contests, a huge Webster's dictionary and a globe where he can point to New Delhi, the Tribune reported on its Web site Thursday. He will represent one part of the state at the national event as will other Utah spellers.

"If I knew when they would be able to come back, I would be relieved," Kunal said.

But his parents' return appears unlikely, at least in the short term.

The Sahs legally entered the U.S. in 1990 so Ken Sah could attend school in California to become an aircraft mechanic, their attorney, Steven Lawrence Jr., said.

Sarita became pregnant with their only child, and they applied for asylum to stay in the U.S., citing violence in their home province in India, Lawrence said. Their case, however, didn't come up for about 10 years.

By that time, federal immigration officials "decided the asylum case was no longer valid if valid at all. India had changed after all those years," Lawrence told The AP.

Finally, after appeals and other attempts failed, the Sahs were deported to India last July. Their son joined them before returning to Utah to live with an uncle.

"There are more sympathetic cases," Lawrence acknowledged, "but they tried to do everything right."

The family landed in Green River, 180 miles southeast of Salt Lake City, about 10 years ago when the Sahs bought a Budget Inn.

Kunal is in eighth grade at Green River High School, which has grades seven through 12. His classmates sometimes call him the "walking dictionary."

Before his parents were deported last year, they watched him advance to the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington. He will return to the prestigious contest in May.

"I just want to finish school in this country. I want to go to Harvard," Kunal said. "My classmates have more freedom than I do. But I spend my time educationally and want to gain more knowledge."

He's struggling with his parents' plight.

"When I am missing them, I mostly just go to spelling study," Kunal said.

U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch's office is aware of the family's situation, but the Utah Republican is not sponsoring a private bill to help the Sahs return to the United States.

"They have a compelling case. But special legislation is for rare and unusual cases," spokeswoman Heather Barney said.

------

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com