(The Center Square) – A 4-year-old Mexican girl getting lifesaving hospital care in Los Angeles and her family will be allowed to stay in the U.S.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted humanitarian parole for one year to Sofia Vargas, the child who came with her family on a previous humanitarian parole in 2023 from their home country of Mexico.
She’s receiving 14 hours of intravenous nutrition every six weeks at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles during her treatment for short bowel syndrome. The syndrome is a rare condition where the small intestine is shortened or damaged, making it difficult or impossible to absorb nutrients during eating, according to Public Counsel, the nonprofit Los Angeles law firm representing the family. (Sofia is not the girl’s real name. She is being publicly called “Sofia” to protect her privacy.)
“We are profoundly grateful that USCIS acted swiftly to grant Sofia and her mother one year of humanitarian parole,” Public Counsel said in a statement after the family learned this week about the parole being granted for Sofia and her family. “By moving quickly, the agency has ensured that a four‑year‑old girl can continue receiving her life-saving medical treatment. We commend USCIS for its responsiveness and for recognizing the urgency of this situation.”
Sofia’s parents live with their daughter in Bakersfield in California’s Kern County and bring her to Los Angeles for the treatments, which her mother Deysi Vargas said aren’t available in Mexico.
The USCIS approved the application for humanitarian parole, which was filed May 14 by Public Counsel. The lawyers said the family received a letter in April that the original humanitarian parole to be in the U.S. was being revoked immediately and that they must leave the country. Deysi Vargas, who works in a job cleaning a restaurant, was told that her permission to legally work in the U.S. was also being revoked, according to Public Counsel.
But a senior Department of Homeland Security official in May told The Center Square that any reports of the girl’s family being immediately deported were false and that the application for humanitarian parole was being considered.
The Center Square left requests for further comments Wednesday morning with the USCIS and Public Counsel, but didn’t receive immediate responses.
