Braun: Strict U.S. immigration laws ignore life-and-death
SOB STORY
Braun: Strict U.S. immigration laws ignore life-and-death decisions in case of ill Elizabeth girl
nj.com
By Bob Braun/Star-Ledger Columnist
Monday, November 28, 2011, 8:24 AM
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Five-year-old Yarelis Bonilla, who suffers from acute lymphocytic leukemia, and her mother Maria, in their apartment in Elizabeth last week.
Here’s the choice: Strict enforcement of immigration laws or the life of a little girl.
So far, the U.S. Department of State has chosen enforcement, but, maybe, that will change.
"We’re sure that, once the government has all the facts, it will recognize the seriousness of the situation," says Marian Habib, a lawyer for the American Friends Service Committee in Newark.
She represents the family of Yarelis Bonilla, a 5-year-old Elizabeth resident who suffers from "very high risk acute lymphocytic leukemia," according to one of her doctors. It’s a disease that is "life-threatening and extremely serious," according to a report from the pediatrics department at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center.
Her "best chance at survival," the report continues, is a bone-marrow transplant from a donor who is a perfect match.
Fortunately, Yarelis has a 7-year-old sister, Gisselle, who is a perfect match for the transplant.
Unfortunately, Gisselle lives in El Salvador and has been twice denied a visa by the American embassy there to come to the United States to help save her sister. Yarelis, born here, is a U.S. citizen.
The state department, which controls the issuance of visas, did not return calls seeking comment about the case.
"There is often a fear, in cases like this, that the recipient of the visa will not return home," says Kerlyn Espinal, the immigration services director for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).
Espinal says the State Department reviewed the case at the senator’s request but still denied the visa. She says Menendez will support an appeal for "humanitarian parole" that would allow Gisselle to come to the United States for the sole purpose of donating marrow to her baby sister.
That petition will be filed this week by Habib. "It is truly an emergency," says the attorney. "This is a race against time."
She says the U.S. embassy in El Salvador has to be convinced both that Yarelis’s life is at risk and that Giselle will return to her home country once the operation has been complete and she is well enough to travel.
"We think we can make a convincing case," Habib says.
Gertrudis Ramirez of Roselle, the paternal grandfather of the sisters, has been gathering all the information he believes the government needs to allow Gisselle to come to the United States without risk of her not returning. He is an American citizen and his son Dagoberto, the girls’ father and a permanent resident, have provided guarantees they will provide for Gisselle’s needs while she is here.
The Icla Da Silva Foundation in New York, part of the National Marrow Donor Program Registry, also pledged "logistical, emotional, and financial support" to the family and will "ensure" the older sister "will return to El Salvador after the donation."
"It’s hard for me to believe this country would not want to save the life of one of its own children," says Gertrudis Ramirez. "This little girl is an American."
Yarelis is eligible for benefits because of her disability. According to the report from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, "Her benefits include medical insurance, which covers all of Yarelis’ medical treatment, including the bone marrow transplant. The family does not have to incur any out-of-pocket expense for this."
Ramirez says the sisters’ parents met in El Salvador and lived together. At the time, the girls’ mother Maria was married to another man, but the couple was estranged. After Gisselle was born, they came to the United States and Yarelis was born. They broke up and Maria was reunited with her husband; they have a 3-year-old son who has Down syndrome.
Gisselle lives with the girls’ maternal grandmother. The grandfather says Maria could not return to the United States if she took Yarelis to El Salvador. He also says he doesn’t believe the Central American country can provide the medical services Yarelis needs. As the hospital report says, "The marrow donation and transplant must be performed by experienced pediatric transplant physicians with appropriate resources at their disposal."
In any event, Ramirez says, the family is without insurance and could not afford the operation.
Ramirez concedes the family story is "complicated" and "embarrassing to tell" but says little Yarelis is not responsible for the circumstances of her birth or her illness. Her survival, he says, is all that matters.
"I love that little girl and I want her to live," he says.
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