The family of a darling 4-year-old girl with a severe medical condition, who have been living in the U.S. legally for two years, are in a struggle to save their daughter’s life since being ordered to self-deport back to Mexico where the lifesaving treatment she desperately needs is unavailable.
On the surface, Sofia, which is a pseudonym to protect her identity, looks like a healthy, happy young girl, but the 4-year-old was born prematurely and suffers from short bowel syndrome, a condition that does not allow her body to absorb nutrition on its own.
The young family was allowed to come to the U.S. through a temporary humanitarian permission process, so that Sofia has access to treatment that’s keeping her alive.
“She is living her life as normal as possible for a girl her age,” her mother, Deysi Vargas, told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo in Spanish. “It’s all thanks to the medical treatment she’s receiving in this country.
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A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas) -
A 4-year-old girl in the U.S. legally for treatment of a severe medical condition now faces the life-threatening risk of deportation to Mexico. (Deysi Vargas)
Sofia requires intravenous nutrition 14 hours a day, and the family travels from Bakersfield, where her parents now live and work, to Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles every six weeks for treatment.
“This type of treatment doesn’t exist in my country,” her mother explained.
As the Trump Administration cracks down on immigration, Sofia’s medical protection has been revoked, and the family has been ordered to leave the U.S. on their own accord.
“The federal government sent the family notices in April this year, canceling their humanitarian parole, which was otherwise valid until July,” Gina Amato, Directing Attorney at Public Counsel’s Immigration Rights Project, told KTLA. “They also revoked the work permits of the child’s parents.”
The family, with the help of their attorneys, are fighting the deportation notice because experts say pausing Sofia’s treatment puts her life at dire risk.
“The doctors at Children’s Hospital L.A. said if the child’s treatment is interrupted, she will die within days,” Amato explained. “It’s not speculative. It’s that she will die within days.”
The family is desperately hoping the courts will step in and allow the 4-year-old and her parents to stay, so that she has a fighting chance at life.
“I’m grateful that immigration officials us permission to come to the U.S. in the first place,” her said. “But her condition is not temporary.
Sofia’s mother and attorneys are scheduled to speak at a press conference tomorrow about the devastating threat deportation poses for the 4-year-old.
