Congress delivers early Christmas present for ailing Bay Area woman
By Web staff
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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — After years of living in limbo and fear, Isabel Bueso — who receives weekly, lifesaving treatments at UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital — will no longer be facing the threat of deportation after Congress passed legislation allowing her to remain in the Bay Area.
Bueso was in the U.S. legally. She was invited by her doctors to participate in a clinical study of a groundbreaking treatment when she was seven years old. She has a rare genetic disorder known as MPS-6.
So she and her family immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala.
Then during the Trump administration, the family was shocked to learn that their stay would not be extended by immigration officials. They had 33 days to leave the country or risk deportation.
Local lawmakers stepped in back in 2019 and the family was given a reprieve but the threat remained.
That was until the House passed legislation sponsored by East Bay Congressman Mark DeSaulnier in June. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla then ushered it through the Senate on Tuesday.
Now, with President Biden’s signature, the threat will be removed permanently. The bill clarifies that Isabel and her family are lawfully present in the United States, and it allows them to apply for green cards at any point in the next two years.
“She has beaten the odds due to her spirit and because of the life-saving treatment that she’s receiving in the United States,” Feinstein said in a news release. “The Bueso family will now be allowed to remain in California, where they will continue to enrich their community, and where Ms. Bueso will be able to receive the care that allows her to live a life and to thrive.”
“Forcing Isabel to leave the United States, the only place she can receive life-saving treatment, would have been a death sentence,” Padilla added. “So today, I am thrilled to say that Isabel will be remaining at home with her family.”
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