Texas family deported despite child's need for brain tumor treatment
Texas family deported despite child's brain surgery (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
A Texas family, including a 10-year-old US citizen recovering from brain surgery, was deported to Mexico while seeking emergency medical care, USA Today reports.
The family was driving their daughter to a Houston children’s hospital when US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained them in February.
The parents, undocumented immigrants, were deported along with four of their five US-citizen children. The girl, who had recently undergone brain surgery to remove a tumor, now struggles with partial paralysis and needs continuous medical care, which her family says is impossible to receive in rural Mexico.
Their lawyers have filed an appeal to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General, requesting humanitarian parole. The family claims they faced verbal abuse and lack of medical assistance during detention.
Rochelle Garza from the Texas Civil Rights Project emphasized that the deportation highlights the administration's aggressive stance on immigration enforcement. Despite the parents' lack of a criminal record, the CBP stated that previous illegal crossings led to their removal.
Legal battle and calls for humanitarian parole
The family had previously crossed the border illegally and were apprehended at a CBP checkpoint while carrying medical documents proving their daughter's urgent need for treatment.
The CBP stated that the parents were given a choice to either take their children to Mexico or leave them with a guardian in the US. The family chose to stay together.
Now living with relatives in Mexico, the family faces not only medical challenges but also safety issues due to local violence.
Lawyers continue to push for humanitarian parole, arguing that separating the family or forcing them to remain in Mexico compromises the child’s health and safety.
Recently, Venezuelan man Jose Gregorio Gonzalez also fought deportation to save his brother's life, as he needed a kidney transplant. He managed to obtain temporary relief to stay in the US and continue preparations for the surgery.
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