A Texas family was deported to Mexico as they sought emergency medical care for their 10-year-old daughter who was recovering from a brain surgery to remove a tumor.
A Texas family is seeking a pathway back to the U.S. after being deported. Those removed from the country include four U.S. citizen children, including a 10-year-old girl seeking emergency medical care after a brain surgery.

An 11-year-old Texas girl recovering from brain surgery hasn’t been able to see her doctor for seven months.

The girl, an American citizen, was arrested with her parents in February while driving to a doctor's appointment for follow-up after surgery to remove a brain tumor. They were quickly deported to her parents’ native Mexico early in the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

On Sept. 18, her lawyers stood with Democratic lawmakers outside the U.S. Capitol, asking that the girl, who they called "Sara," be allowed back into the country with her parents for treatment.

“Citizens should be protected, not abandoned,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, told reporters. “Every day Sara is outside the United States is a day she goes without critical lifesaving treatment.”

USA TODAY is not using the family’s names due to safety concerns in Mexico.

The family, originally from the Rio Grande Valley, has sought humanitarian parole, which allows people outside the country to enter the United States for “urgent humanitarian reasons.” They are waiting to hear back from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services after submitting their application in June.

Neither USCIS nor the Department of Homeland Security responded to USA TODAY’s email request for comment. DHS has denied it deported American children but said the parents had prior removal orders and they chose to take their children.

Family lawyers have said the parents have no criminal record. They seek parole for urgent medical concerns of their American citizen daughter, who requires emergency care with support from noncitizen family members.

“This is kind of what humanitarian parole is for,” Danny Woodward, the family’s lawyer and a policy attorney at the Texas Civil Rights Project, told USA TODAY.

He said, “An American citizen just needs to be with her mom because the situation is so dire.”

On Feb. 3, the girl, her parents and four of her five siblings were detained at a checkpoint in South Texas. While federal officials said her parents don't have legal status, nearly all of their children are American citizens.

Amid their daughter’s treatment at Texas Children’s Hospital to remove the brain tumor, the parents crossed through the Customs and Border Protection checkpoint in Sarita multiple times before, their lawyers said. They carried a hospital letter explaining their daughter’s condition, as well as their children’s birth certificates and evidence showing they were applying for visas.

CBP officers detained the family for hours before placing them in harsh conditions in immigrant detention, lawyers said in an inspector general's complaint. CBP has denied any mistreatment.

Agents released the family across the border, where lawyers said the family feared for their safety. They eventually made way to relatives in a rural part of Mexico.

The 11-year-old girl lacks Mexican citizenship, so she’s unable to access Mexico’s universal health care system, Woodward said. She’s only been able to receive two MRI scans.

A recent scan came after the girl’s parents noticedbehavioral changes and seizures, Woodward said, adding there aren’t specialized doctors nearby to treat her.

The girl isn’t the only person to face deportation while dealing with serious medical issues.

In June, DHS allowed a 4-year-old Mexican girl and her mother to remain in Southern California so the girl can receive lifesaving treatment for short bowel syndrome, the Associated Press reported. They reportedly faced deportation after they were told their humanitarian parole would be revoked after arriving at the United States-Mexico border in 2023.

That case, Woodward said, shows that, while humanitarian parole may be more difficult, it wouldn't be impossible for the 11-year-old recovering from brain surgery.

Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Family with US child recovering from brain surgery asks to re-enter US after deportation

Reporting by Eduardo Cuevas, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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