Mother Of Teen Fighting Leukemia Is Reunited With Daughter After Receiving Temporary Waiver To Come To US

Sep 06, 2019 by apost team

A mother has been reunited with her sick daughter after previously being denied entry to the United States.

It was a story that made headlines: A mother-daughter duo had been ripped apart by border patrol when the daughter was allowed to enter the U.S. but the mother was not. To make matters worse, the daughter was only 14-years-old, and she was coming to the country to get medical attention for her leukemia.

Ixcell Sandoval Perez, a high schooler, was born in the United States. She lived with her mother for several years in North Carolina before her mother's visa expired according to ABC 30.

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Rather than staying behind without her, Ixcell decided to move back to Mexico with her mom. But tragedy struck when she was diagnosed with childhood leukemia. After talking it over with her mother, they decided to go back to North Carolina to seek the help of Duke University Hospital, but a wrinkle appeared at the border.

Ixcell's mother was not allowed entry into the United States. U.S. Customs and Border Protection told ABC 30 said that Ixcell's mother was previously rejected a U.S. non-immigrant Visa due to past immigration violations resulting in a 10-year ban on re-entering the country.

"They took everything away from us," Ixcell's mother said in a video by Solidarity Now, describing their detainment by U.S. officials. She shared that they were left in a cold room without any food or water, and even though she banged on the door and tried to explain her daughter's condition, no one listened.

Eventually, a relative in the U.S. came and took Ixcell to the hospital. Her mother had to go back to Mexico. 

Their case caught the attention of media outlets and immigration advocacy groups, and their story was splashed across the headlines as lawyers sought to reverse the decision and get the little family reunited. "It's not easy to be here without her," Ixcell said in a video posted from her hospital bed. "It's not easy to have her so far away."

This week, their efforts paid off. The mother applied for a temporary humanitarian waiver on the grounds of a family medical emergency, and her application was approved. She's finally been reunited with her sick daughter. It is not known how long she'll be allowed to stay in the country. 

What do you think? Did border patrol make the right decision? Is your heart touched at the thought of a mom and daughter being reunited in their hour of need? Let us know in the comments below.