Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
(The Center Square) – A 4-year-old Mexican girl getting lifesaving hospital care in Los Angeles and her family will be allowed to stay in the U.S.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has granted humanitarian parole for one year to Sofia Vargas, the child who came with her family on a previous humanitarian parole in 2023 from their home country of Mexico.
She’s receiving 14 hours of intravenous nutrition every six weeks at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles during her treatment for short bowel syndrome. The syndrome is a rare condition where the small intestine is shortened or damaged, making it difficult or impossible to absorb nutrients during eating, according to Public Counsel, the nonprofit Los Angeles law firm representing the family. (Sofia is not the girl’s real name. She is being publicly called “Sofia” to protect her privacy.)
“We are profoundly grateful that USCIS acted swiftly to grant Sofia and her mother one year of humanitarian parole,” Public Counsel said in a statement after the family learned this week about the parole being granted for Sofia and her family.
“By moving quickly, the agency has ensured that a four‑year‑old girl can continue receiving her life-saving medical treatment. We commend USCIS for its responsiveness and for recognizing the urgency of this situation,” said the statement, which was emailed to The Center Square Wednesday. The statement was written by Gina Amato Lough, directing attorney at Public Counsel, and the nonprofit’s staff attorney Rebecca Brown.
The lawyers added, “While we celebrate this victory, we cannot ignore the systemic challenges that brought Sofia to the brink. Her parole was terminated without warning, and for weeks there was no functional avenue to alert USCIS that a child’s life was in danger. It took an international outcry and pressure from elected officials to get a response — something that used to take a single phone call.
“Sofia’s story is one of many, but life‑or‑death decisions like hers aren’t always visible. Many families who seek refuge in the United States are fleeing threats you can’t see and, while their wounds may be invisible, the danger they face is every bit as real,” the lawyers said.
Sofia’s parents live with their daughter in Bakersfield in California’s Kern County and bring her to Los Angeles for the treatments, which her mother Deysi Vargas said aren’t available in Mexico.
The USCIS approved the application for humanitarian parole, which was filed May 14 by Public Counsel. The lawyers said the family received a letter in April that the original humanitarian parole to be in the U.S. was being revoked immediately and that they must leave the country. Deysi Vargas, who works in a job cleaning a restaurant, was told that her permission to legally work in the U.S. was also being revoked, according to Public Counsel.
But a senior Department of Homeland Security official Wednesday said in an email to The Center Square that early reporting of Sofia Vargas and her family being actively deported was “COMPLETELY FALSE.” The official’s name wasn’t in the email.
“Once again, the mainstream media lied to the American people, this time about a young girl who was not in danger of being deported,” the official told The Center Square.
“The family applied with USCIS for humanitarian parole on May 14, 2025. Vargas and her family have been approved to stay in the United States as their daughter receives medical attention,” the official said.
