Rosa Hernandez: An Example of American Immorality
On October 25, 2017, a 10-year-old girl was detained by ICE and faced deportation after undergoing a surgery. While most undocumented youth experiences fear of deportation everyday, Rosamaria Hernandez also faced additional struggles. Rosa has cerebral palsy. She has lived in Texas since she was 3 months old and after an emergency surgery, all she knew was taken from her. Hernandez rode in an ambulance with her mother and cousin, and was escorted by immigration agents to the hospital.
"The fact is short and simple: most undocumented people are exemplary members of society and are not criminals, no matter what Trump says."
The ICE agents waited outside her door and detained her just after having a gallbladder surgery. The lack of compassion and humanity by ICE agents has been seen a lot lately. They tear families apart on a daily basis just due to a trivial matter of having paper or not; of being born on American soil or not. Even though Rosamaria has lived in the U.S. for practically all her life, she will face deportation to a country she does not know: Mexico. Her mother came to the U.S. for treatment for her daughter’s unique condition, something that would have been too expensive and unattainable in Mexico. Yet, because of an emergency surgery, Rosa’s life was turned upside down as she was taken to a child detention center in San Antonio. Rosa was taken away from her mother who is in Laredo immigration, and taken away from the love and support that a patient needs to recover.
After such a long and risky surgery, a patient like Rosa should receive follow-up medical attention not be taken to a detention center away from her family. The inhumanity of the laws that permit this and the ICE agents is quite evident. This is just one of the many recent cases under Trump’s administration in which harmless undocumented people have been taken away from their families. Being a child with cerebral palsy is hard enough, but being taken away from family and threatened to be deported to an unknown place is a cruel punishment for such an innocent child like Rosa, who has done nothing wrong. ICE agents aren’t supposed to make arrests at sensitive locations like hospitals, schools, or churches except in the case of a serious safety threat. What possible threat could a 10-year-old girl with CP recovering from gallbladder surgery possibly pose? Why rip her away from those she loves and medical treatment she needs to recover? Why deny her mother access to see her?
Although, US congressman Henry Cuellar is tracking the case, a hearing has yet to be set. The future of Rosamaria Hernandez and her family still hangs on the balance. Congressman Cuellar understands that Custom and Border Protection has a duty of protecting the United States’ borders. However, he says that they should “be devoting resources and focus on bigger threats.” In other words, why spend so much money deporting people like Rosa and her family, who have done nothing wrong and pose no criminal threat? The fact is short and simple: most undocumented people are exemplary members of society and are not criminals, no matter what Trump says. They should not be treated so unjustly.
It is unbelievable that we have come to such a time that cruelty like this is exerted on someone so young and innocent just because of where she was born. Trump has been cracking down on undocumented immigrants and has been deporting various people like Rosa, who pose no threat to anyone. How can someone stoop so low? Undocumented immigrants deserve better treatment from the Trump administration and ICE agents, especially those with medical conditions. Just because someone is not an American citizen does not mean that they should not be treated like humans. Lack of papers should not justify removing a child from a hospital, denying her basic human rights, separating her from family, and threaten to deport her.