A 10-year-old Texas girl with cerebral palsy who underwent gallbladder surgery this week was placed in deportation proceedings immediately after she was medically released from a hospital Wednesday morning.
Rosamaria Hernandez, who lacks legal immigration status, was reportedly transported to a children’s shelter in San Antonio that can attend to her medical needs, during this time where she awaits her case to be processed, California-based immigration attorney Alex Galvez said.
Rosamaria was taken to Driscoll Children’s Hospital in Corpus Christi last Tuesday morning via ambulance from an immigration checkpoint near Laredo.
The ambulance was reportedly escorted by Customs and Border Protection agents.
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Leticia Gonzalez, who is a San Antonio-based associate of Galvez, said that she asked that federal agents release Rosamaria to family members who are U.S. citizens, but to no avail.
“Their orders are to process her,” Gonzalez said.
Rosamaria came under threat of deportation after she crossed a Customs and Border Protection checkpoint to get to Corpus Christi for the surgery.
Rosamaria’s Mom, Felipa Delacruz, who also lacks legal immigration status, said that federal agents waited outside her daughter’s hospital room as she recovered from surgery. Delacruz is in Laredo.
Her niece Aurora Cantu, who is a U.S. citizen, reportedly accompanied Rosamaria past the checkpoint.
Customs and Border Protection spokesman Rod Kise said in a statement on Wednesday morning that Rosamaria and Cantu approached a Border Patrol checkpoint on Highway 59, east of Laredo.
“Due to the juvenile’s medical condition, Border Patrol agents escorted her and her cousin to a Corpus Christi hospital where she could receive appropriate medical care,” Kise said.
“Per the immigration laws of the United States, once medically cleared she will be processed accordingly. The Mexican Consulate has been advised of the situation by Laredo Sector Border Patrol.”
Galvez mentioned that the Department of Homeland Security will conduct a study to determine if Rosamaria can be released to family. The case has been flagged by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement and will be expedited, Galvez said.
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Galvez said that Rosamaria’s case is strong in that she is not a flight risk — because she is disabled — and the girl does not pose a threat to society. But being apart from her mother for that two to three weeks will be a first for her.
“The child has never been apart from her mom,” Galvez said.
Democratic state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa has questioned the federal immigration officials’ priorities in the case.
“The situation with Rosamaria Hernandez is not uncommon in South Texas or along the Texas-Mexico border. What is uncommon, is the Border Patrol or Immigration Customs Enforcement taking such an interest in a case involving a 10-year-old girl requiring immediate medical attention,” Hinojosa said in an email to the Caller-Times.
“While there is no doubt that we are a country of laws that must be followed, we are also a country with compassion. We have situations where certain discretions must be allowed to protect the rights of a human being.”
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