Family Deported to Mexico While Child Is Recovering From Brain Cancer

A family deported to Mexico is hoping to return to the United States so their 10-year-old daughter, an American citizen, can continue receiving treatment for brain cancer.

The girl and her four siblings, all U.S. citizens, were removed from Texas along with their  parents by immigration authorities on February 4.

Their ordeal began in February when they traveled from Rio Grande City to Houston for the girl’s medical appointments with specialists.

According to their attorney, Danny Woodward, the parents had made the same trip multiple times before, crossing through an immigration checkpoint without any issues. In the past, they had shown letters from their lawyers and their daughter’s doctors to immigration officers and were allowed through without trouble.

In February, however, things took a different turn. When the family reached the checkpoint, the parents were arrested for not having legal immigration documents. The mother showed the officers letters from their doctors and explained her daughter’s medical condition, but the officers “weren’t interested in hearing that.”

Attorney Danny Woodward stated that the parents had no criminal history beyond lacking “legal immigration status.”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which deported the family to Mexico, declined to comment on the case, citing privacy reasons.

The 10-year-old girl, who had brain cancer, underwent surgery to remove the tumor last year. While the procedure was successful, swelling in her brain has not fully subsided, leading to mobility and speech difficulties on the right side of her body.

Before the deportation, she had been regularly seeing her doctors for check-ups, taking prescribed medication, and attending rehabilitation sessions.

Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project, called the situation “an absolute tragedy.”

Tom Homan, the border czar under the Trump administration, stated that “families can be deported together” regardless of their immigration status. He explained that the parents would have to choose between leaving the U.S. as a family or leaving their children behind.

However, undocumented parents of U.S. citizen children risk losing custody if detained by immigration authorities. Without a guardianship or power-of-attorney document designating a caregiver, the children are placed in the U.S. foster care system, making it difficult for their parents to regain custody in the future.

The girl’s mother described feeling helpless, saying in Spanish that they were “between a rock and a hard place.”

Because the family was deported to a region in Mexico notorious for kidnappings of American citizens, their identities have not been disclosed for safety reasons.

Along with the 10-year-old girl and her parents, four of her siblings, ages 6 to 15, were also detained. Only one of the five children was born outside the U.S.

After being arrested at the checkpoint, the family was taken to a detention center, where the daughters and mother were separated from the father and sons. It was then that they realized the girl would not be able to see her doctors.

The family was later placed in a van and dropped off in Mexico, where they spent a week at a nearby shelter.

Since then, they have moved into a house, but concerns for their safety keep them awake at night. Their children have also been unable to attend school.

The 10-year-old daughter, along with their 15-year-old son, who has a potentially life-threatening heart condition, has not been able to receive the medical care they need in Mexico.

The parents also have a 17-year-old son who remained in the U.S. after their deportation.