Latest news with #DeysiVargas
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: Why should a 4-year-old face deportation while Trump pardons criminals?
To the editor: If Deysi Vargas could afford a million-dollar-a-plate dinner at Mar-a-Lago, she might be able to save her daughter, like the mother of the tax criminal Paul Walczak ('4-year-old Bakersfield girl facing deportation could die within days of losing medical care,' May 27). He was pardoned after his mother bought a seat at President Trump's recent dinner. If her daughter were a Republican governor convicted of campaign finance fraud like former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, she could be pardoned ('Trump issues pardons for politicians, reality TV stars, a union leader and a rapper,' May 29). If her daughter were a rioter who tried to overthrow the peaceful transfer of our democracy like the Jan. 6 criminals, she could be pardoned. But Vargas' daughter is simply a 4-year-old of Mexican descent who needs the lifesaving medical treatment she can obtain in the United States. Her daughter, by her innocence and lack of affluence and without allegiance to Trump, is apparently too much of a danger to remain free in the U.S. Fred Burgess, Camarillo This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: Why should a 4-year-old face deportation while Trump pardons criminals?
To the editor: If Deysi Vargas could afford a million-dollar-a-plate dinner at Mar-a-Lago, she might be able to save her daughter, like the mother of the tax criminal Paul Walczak ('4-year-old Bakersfield girl facing deportation could die within days of losing medical care,' May 27). He was pardoned after his mother bought a seat at President Trump's recent dinner. If her daughter were a Republican governor convicted of campaign finance fraud like former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, she could be pardoned ('Trump issues pardons for politicians, reality TV stars, a union leader and a rapper,' May 29). If her daughter were a rioter who tried to overthrow the peaceful transfer of our democracy like the Jan. 6 criminals, she could be pardoned. But Vargas' daughter is simply a 4-year-old of Mexican descent who needs the lifesaving medical treatment she can obtain in the United States. Her daughter, by her innocence and lack of affluence and without allegiance to Trump, is apparently too much of a danger to remain free in the U.S. Fred Burgess, Camarillo
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
Preschooler being deported by Trump could 'die within days' if her treatment getss cut off
A young girl living in California with a life-threatening health condition is at risk of death in just a few days after President Trump ordered her family to be deported to Mexico. The four-year-old girl, referred to by her initials SGV, is receiving life-saving care in Bakersfield, California where she lives with her parents who were allowed to immigrate to the U.S. to treat their daughter's short bowel syndrome. The condition prevents the body from properly absorbing nutrients, leading to malnutrition, bone disease, and kidney complications. It can be deadly if left untreated The family was given humanitarian approval in 2023 to enter the country after doctors in their native Mexico reportedly failed to properly treat the four-year-old, leaving her with repeat blood infections and, as a result of multiple surgeries gone wrong, a severely shortened bowel. SGV's condition has improved drastically since beginning treatment at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she has near-constant care for her shortened bowel. Her parents have been hopeful, watching their daughter lead a near-normal life, going to school and living at home with her parents finally, not in a hospital. However, last month, her mother, Deysi Vargas, received a deportation order from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. The letter read: 'It is in your best interest to avoid deportation and leave the United States of your own accord.' SGV is currently fed through a process called Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN), a way of feeding a person through an IV when they can't eat or absorb enough nutrients by mouth. Her doctor says forcing her out of the country would disrupt her treatment, and 'could be fatal within a matter of days.' Dr John Arsenault of Children's, who sees the young girl every six weeks, told the Los Angeles Times: 'Patients on home TPN are not allowed to leave the country because the infrastructure to provide TPN or provide immediate intervention if there is a problem with IV access depends on our program's utilization of U.S.-based healthcare resources and does not transfer across borders.' The family's lawyer has petitioned the court to extend their temporary humanitarian legal status, which can be valid from a few months up to several years, based on SGV's medical needs. They believe the Vargas family's legal status was terminated by mistake. SVG was born around a month premature and was immediately admitted to a intensive care unit at a Cancun hospital where she underwent six surgeries to fix an intestinal blockage. However, doctors cut too much of her small intestine away. She became emaciated at times, her body unable to absorb nutrients and vitamins from food, leading to malnutrition. After seven months of treatment in Cancun, SVG's doctor suggested the family relocate to Mexico City where she could receive a higher level of care. But that was no better. Vargas told the LA Times that nurses would administer the wrong medication or speed up her nutrition system so that she immediately peed it out and became severely dehydrated. Another time, Vargas claimed, SVG threw up overnight, and no one cleaned her up. Then, Vargas learned the Biden Administration had begun using the app CBP One to provide appointments with border agents to receive admission to the United States on humanitarian grounds. Vargas told the LA Times that her husband claimed their immigration appointment on July 31, 2023, that he had been kidnapped, extorted by a Mexican cartel and had recently received death threats. She said that border patrol agents at the Tijuana-San Diego border looked at SVG and knew she needed medical help. That same day she was taken to Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego, where she was treated for a year before being transferred to one of the country's best gastroenterology programs at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Vargas' husband has since held down odd jobs and gigs, such as driving for Uber. Vargas found steady work as a cleaner at a restaurant. The family finally achieved a sense of stability and normalcy in their lives, Vargas said. Meanwhile, SVG was also doing better. SVG was hooked up to feeding tubes overnight, in the morning, and brought one with her to school in a backpack for lunchtime. She was no longer thin and malnourished and she was living at home with her family, not in a hospital like she had been before. Now, the family faces the prospect of SVG regressing as the Trump administration continued to crack down on it's existing humanitarian parole policy that it believes was too lenient under the Biden administration. President Joe Biden used humanitarian parole, which also allowed people to legally work in the country, more than any other president. The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court earlier this month to allow it to end humanitarian parole for hundreds of thousands of people from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. It is not clear whether the revocation of the family's parole status is legal or if it will be halted by a judge, as their lawyer is attempting to do. But already, Vargas' work authorization has been revoked. Her family now faces the prospect of returning to the care in Mexico that the family claim injured SGV in the first place, which is a terrifying prospect for her mother. Vargas said: 'I know the treatment they have there for her is not adequate, because we already lived it. 'Those were bad times. Here she is living the most normal life possible.' The Trump administration entered office with the promise of deporting undocumented immigrants with a criminal background, but immigrants with legal status have been caught up in the dragnet. The administration has acknowledged a mistaken deportation only once, that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland resident, but has refused to follow a judge's orders to 'facilitate his return' to the U.S.. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aimed to tighten immigration enforcement and allow people entry to the U.S. 'on only a case-by-case basis,' a 180-degree turn from the Biden Administration's policies that expanded humanitarian parole authority for refugees and those facing life-threatening medical crises. Thousands of immigrants who entered the country using the Biden Administration's CBP One app received deportation notices around the same time that Vargas did. If people do not leave on their own volition, the notice said, without offering a timeline or indication that they will be arrested, 'the federal government will find you.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Still being considered': DHS says reports of Bakersfield girl being deported are false
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — Sofia is a fighter and so is her community. The four-year-old Bakersfield girl has short bowel syndrome and must be connected to a feeding system for more than half of the day. Her mom Deysi Vargas brought her to the United States legally to receive life-saving treatment. After two years of treatment and recovery, her mom says their humanitarian parole has been unexpectedly terminated. On Wednesday, Sofia's attorneys begged the Department of Homeland Security to reconsider the family's immigration status. In support, California Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff signed a letter alongside 36 Democratic Congress members urging DHS Secretary Kristi Noem to reconsider Sofia and Deysi's legal status. The letter said, 'Without action, Sofia will die.' In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said, 'Any reporting that Vargas and her family are actively being deported is false. This family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025, and the application is still being considered.' Sofia's attorneys say the family has been told to leave the country immediately after reapplying for parole. 'We did our best to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them know we think they made an error,' said Gina Amato Lough, Directing Attorney for Public Counsel. 'We have not heard anything back. We subsequently filed for new applications for humanitarian parole, and similarly have not received a response.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Independent
3 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Trump administration denies critically ill 4-year-old is being deported and says humanitarian request under consideration
The Department of Homeland Security has denied that a critically ill 4-year-old girl is being actively deported to Mexico after the family launched a campaign about their case. Lawyers acting on behalf of Deysi Vargas and her daughter Sofia said that the family's humanitarian parole, granted in July 2023, was prematurely revoked by the Trump administration on April 11. 'They received a subsequent notice weeks later, and a third notice in May verifying that they are no longer in lawful status and are now vulnerable to deportation,' Gina Amato, directing attorney of the Immigrants Rights Project at Public Counsel, said at a press conference Wednesday. 'The notices also ordered the family to leave the United States immediately.' The family and her doctor said Sofia 'could die within days' if treatment for a rare condition is paused. But the department said that the family's application for humanitarian parole was 'still being considered' in a statement to The Independent. 'Any reporting that Vargas and her family are actively being deported are FALSE,' the official said. 'This family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025, and the application is still being considered.' Amato said that lawyers wrote to immigration officials soon after they received the case, but heard nothing from the Trump administration. Lawyers filed a new application for humanitarian parole in May and still had not heard back, Amato said. 'We did our best to give them the benefit of the doubt and let them know that we think they made an error, that we have a 4-year-old child whose life is in danger and we asked them to reconsider their decision to terminate humanitarian parole,' Amato said. 'We have not heard anything back. We subsequently filed new applications for humanitarian parole, and similarly, have not received a response.' The family was granted temporary humanitarian permission to enter the U.S. from her home country of Mexico in 2023 after Sofia urgently needed treatment for short bowel syndrome, a rare condition that stops her from absorbing nutrients in food. The treatment she required was not available in Mexico and she was quickly deteriorating, her lawyers said. Sofia's treatment, which requires being hooked to an intravenous feeding system for 14 hours at night, can only be administered and overseen by a specialist team at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. 'This is a textbook example of medical need,' the family's attorney Rebecca Brown said Tuesday. 'This child will die and there's no sense for that to happen. It would just be a cruel sacrifice.' The family is currently living in Bakersfield, California, just over 100 miles north of Los Angeles and came to the U.S. legally in 2023 after signing up to the Biden administration's CBP One app. They received an appointment with border agents in Tijuana to receive two-year protection from deportation and were swiftly taken to a hospital in San Diego for urgent treatment. A year later, Sofia was referred to the Children's Hospital Los Angeles, which has one of the highest-ranked programs for gastroenterology in the U.S. Under their care, by September 2024, Sofia was discharged and could receive treatment in the comfort of her home. Meanwhile, her parents were working hard to hold down odd jobs in Bakersfield. Sofia's care is still gruelling. In addition to the 14 hours a night hooked up to the IV, Vargas has to administer medication that goes into her daughter's stomach through a gastric tube four times a day. At preschool, a school nurse has to administer nutrition daily.
