The real life impact of US President Donald Trump’s immigration policies on people and families was on display in California on Wednesday.
Trump’s administration has revoked permission for Sofia, a 4-year-old Mexican girl, to stay in the country.
Her mother, Deysi Vargas, said she has been told the family face potential deportation.
She said the government withdrew the humanitarian parole they received in 2023 when she brought her sick child to the US-Mexico border.
The life-saving medical treatment she receives from a California hospital is not available in Mexico.
“Sofia suffers from short bowel syndrome which prevents her from being able to take in and process nutrients on her own,” said public counsel, Gina Amato.
Doctors have told the family and lawyers that she will die without this care, Amato said at a press conference in Los Angeles.
“Deporting this family under these conditions is not only unlawful, it constitutes a moral failure that violates the basic tenets of humanity and decency,” she said.
Sofia made it out of hospital thanks to the treatment that provides her with intravenous nutrition through a backpack she wears.
Vargas said she fears for her daughter’s life.
“What would happen if we returned to Mexico? Sofía would be hospitalised day and night again because there aren’t the resources there for her to live a normal life like at home,” she said.
Humanitarian parole does not put migrants on a path to citizenship. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services has not immediately commented.
A senior Homeland Security official, in an email sent from an address for media inquiries, said the family is not actively being deported.
The official said a more recent application for parole that was filed two weeks ago is still being considered.
The Trump administration has been pushing to dismantle policies from President Joe Biden’s administration that allowed for people to live legally in the US, generally for two years.
Source: Africanews
