This family was making the same medical trip they’d made for two years with all their documentation in order. Then something changed at the border checkpoint.
HOUSTON — Congresswoman Sylvia Garcia returned to Houston Friday night after visiting Mexico where she met with a family that was deported while attempting to bring their 11-year-old daughter to Houston for brain cancer treatment.
The family, who had been living in South Texas, was stopped at a checkpoint in February while en route to Houston for their daughter’s medical appointment. While the parents are undocumented immigrants, their 11-year-old daughter and her siblings are U.S. citizens.
“She should have been able to come just like she always has. So that’s our priority is making sure she gets the treatments that she needs,” said Congresswoman Garcia. “We’re trying to figure things out. We also talked to her doctor via video conference, so we’re going to try to make sure that we connect her back and get her back on the schedule, because it’s critical that she get some of these medications daily and that she gets her follow-ups every three months.”
According to Garcia, the family had been making the same journey for approximately two years without incident, carrying documentation from both doctors and lawyers. The congresswoman emphasized that the child urgently needs to resume treatment at the Texas Medical Center.
Under current immigration policies, individuals in the country illegally are subject to deportation. However, an immigration attorney consulted on this matter stated that there are potential solutions for cases like this one.
“If a child is seeking treatment and they need a parent or guardian to be here, the government can afford them a medical visa or a temporary stay,” said Mana Yugani, an immigration attorney.
The family is now seeking humanitarian parole to allow their daughter to return to the United States and continue her critical brain cancer treatments at the Texas Medical Center.
Congresswoman Garcia and her team are actively working on the case to help reunite the family and ensure the child receives the life-saving care she needs.