Authorities Release Undocumented 10-Year-Old With Cerebral Palsy Who Was Detained After Surgery

Dreamactivist.org
Dreamactivist.org

It is not clear if she will be deported.

An undocumented 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, who was detained last month in Texas after undergoing gallbladder surgery, has been released. 

Rosa Maria Hernandez was reunited with her family on Friday, however, it is still unclear if she will face deportation.

Rosa Maria, who has lived in the U.S. since she was three months old, was taken into US Customs and Border Protection custody on October 24 after her ambulance was stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint.

CBP agents reportedly detained Rosa Maria, who was on her way to Corpus Christie for surgery, despite the fact that she was traveling in an ambulance and with a U.S. citizen family member.

Border Patrol agents then escorted the family to the hospital and waited outside the child’s room until her release, authorities said.

“Border Patrol... have told her she has two options; sign voluntary departure or spend up to three weeks in detention,” DreamActivist.org’s petition said at the time. “Families should not have to decide between getting lifesaving help, or being deported.”

When Rosa Maria was discharged, she was taken into custody by CPB agents.

The 10-year-old was then transferred to a San Antonio shelter for kids for three weeks, according to the family's attorney Alex Galvez.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, a Texas Democrat, said it’s unclear what the next steps are for the Hernandez family.

"While this is welcome news, Rosa Maria's future remains uncertain," Castro said in a statement. "The Trump administration has not made clear whether (it) will proceed with deportation proceedings against her. I continue to call for Rosa Maria's case to be administratively closed."

Castro continued on to say that the United States “should not be a place where children seeking life-sustaining medical care are at risk of apprehension."

“A case like Rosa Maria’s should never happen again,” Castro added.