The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today condemned the Trump administration’s deportation of a 10-year-old American citizen and cancer patient to Mexico
A family on their way to an emergency medical check-up for their 10-year-old daughter, who is recovering from brain cancer, was detained by immigration authorities and deported to Mexico last month.
The family’s 15-year-old son has Long QT syndrome, which causes irregular heartbeats and can be life-threatening if not properly treated. The mother told NBC News both children are unable to receive the health care they need in Mexico.
Both parents are undocumented and had previously been allowed to enter and exit the country due the children’s citizenship status and medical condition, but were arrested and deported this time.
SEE: Trump admin deports 10-year-old U.S. citizen recovering from brain cancer to Mexico
“We can and must humanize our immigration policies,” said CAIR Deputy Executive Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “Deporting the parents of an American child recovering from brain cancer, and effectively forcing the deportation of the child as well, is cruel and unconscionable. This morally indefensible act does not keep our nation safe. Rather, it only serves to diminish our nation in the eyes of the world.”
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com