06/08/2025

Following Outcry, Four-year-old Child Can Stay in U.S. for Life-saving Treatment

The young girl is battling cancer

Deysi Vargas’s 4-year-old daughter was fussy on Wednesday as she carried her into their Bakersfield, California, home after a dental procedure. In a few hours, Vargas would have to prepare the girl’s next feeding — washing her hands thoroughly, measuring formula and flushing her daughter’s gastric tube.

It was a routine Vargas had perfected through fear. Missing even one step could mean disaster, she said. But for the first time in months, she felt like she could finally breathe.

Vargas and her family, who hail from Mexico, could stay in the United States, the only country where her daughter can receive the complex and specialized treatment that keeps her alive. The girl has short bowel syndrome, a condition where the body cannot absorb enough nutrients from food.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.