One by one, they made it clear what will happen to them if they are deported: They will die. In oftentimes heart-wrenching testimony before the House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Wednesday, immigrants who have lost their protection from deportation while undergoing lifesaving medical treatment told lawmakers that ending medical deferred action in place is a matter of life or death.
"I came here legally and have been a legal resident for 16 years," Maria Isabel Bueso said. She was invited to the U.S. as a child to participate in a clinical trial that resulted in a treatment that has extended her life and the lives of others with her rare genetic disorder. Now she’s told she must leave in just days. "The medical treatment I need is not available in Guatemala,” she said. “If I'm sent back, I will die.”
It’s a decision that was made out of cruelty. Federal immigration agencies “have used deferred action in medical and humanitarian cases for decades,” immigration law expert Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia told lawmakers. Under public backlash, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services backed down from this move, but only partially, saying it would reopen some pending requests, but leaving families that had received letters telling them they had to leave within 33 days with no idea where they now stans.
Among them is 16-year-old Jonathan Sanchez, who has cystic fibrosis and risks being deported to Honduras. Immigration reporter Tanvi Misra tweeted that he said after he “heard that the program might be ending he ‘started crying and said, Mom, I don't want to die, I don't want to die. If I go back to Honduras, I won't survive.’” The boy told lawmakers that he “felt so tired, both emotionally and mentally,” adding that "the government is treating me as if my life is not worth the same thing as other people's lives.”
In one extraordinary moment, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez did something no administration official responsible for this cruelty has done: apologize.
”I’d like to apologize to you on behalf of the United States of America, for the dehumanizing policies … that are targeting you and targeting many people in the United States, and we’re fighting for a better country that we can be proud of when it comes to how we treat all people, and understanding the circumstances that they’re coming from,” she said. “And I’d also like to recognize the intrinsic value that you have, and offer, to everyone you encounter.”
Immigrants, their advocates, and lawmakers have all stressed that the Trump administration made this decision without consulting experts and Congress, and with no public announcement. KTVU reports that more than 120 lawmakers signed a letter calling on agencies “to turn over any documents discussing the termination of medical deferred action by Friday,” as civil rights groups have sued over the program’s termination.
Lives are quite literally depending on the outcome of this program, and they are in need of urgent relief. “My life expectancy was very short,” Maria Isabel said. “I could die within a month if I don't get treatment. I am a human being with hopes and dreams."