Deported mom of US citizen child with rare brain tumor denied return for specialist treatment
Topics: Immigration, US News
Kiesha Dosanjh
Featured Image Credit: Texas Civil Rights Project
Topics: Immigration, US News
A year ago, an 11-year-old U.S. citizen who was recovering from a brain tumor had treatment halted after her parents were deported to Mexico. Now, her mother has been denied a humanitarian request to return to the country.
The girl returned to Mexico along with her parents, and four siblings. At the time, the girl was undergoing lifesaving treatment for the rare tumor - so rare, doctors are still studying it.
It came after the young girl had emergency surgery in 2024 to remove her tumor - and following that was receiving lifesaving treatment.
In February 2025, the parents were detained near the Rio Grande Valley in Texas, on the way to taking their daughter to the hospital. They were driven to Mexico the next day, as the parents took their children with them.
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The Department of Homeland Security said immigration officials were enforcing 'expedited removal orders,' which had reportedly previously been placed on the parents.
Unable to receive the care she needs in Mexico, the young girl’s condition has deteriorated, and last month, had a seizure so intense she fell and suffered bruising, her mother told NBC News.
The publication says they are withholding the name of both the mother and daughter for their safety.
“Instead of improving, my daughter’s health is actually regressing,” the mother told NBC. She also revealed her daughter suffers spasms, especially in one of her arms which is partly paralysed.
Specialist doctors in the States told the mother that results show that her daughter's brain is not regenerating. This means that there is a higher risk of the tumor coming back.
The publication reports that the mother, father and one of the siblings who is not a U.S. citizen received denial letters to enter the country, but weren't told why. These letters do not usually give a reason.
A spokesperson for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in the agency that processes humanitarian parole applications, told the outlet that “ICE has jurisdiction” over parole decisions for people who have been previously deported.
UNILAD have contacted ICE for comment.
“As a parent, I want to move heaven and earth to help her,” the mother said. “But receiving the news that it couldn’t be done, that everything had been denied, and on top of that, getting the news that my daughter wasn’t doing well ... it was even more stressful.”
The 11-year-old girl also spoke in Spanish to the publication, telling them: “My head hurts so much, my foot, my hand. I want to heal.”
In the U.S. she was relying on therapists, as her mother tells the outlet that any progress she made with sentences and memory have 'been lost'.
Unfortunately, the mother said her daughter is not medically cleared to fly, and it’s proving difficult to find a medical provider in Mexico to take on her daughter's case due to the complex understanding of the medical history.
There are reportedly only a few specialists who can treat and monitor the 11-year-old's condition, with a group studying her rare tumor to understand it better.
The Texas Civil Rights Project have been supporting the family throughout. Attorney Danny Woodward told the outlet that the family can reapply for humanitarian parole at a later date, although it is a costly process.