After public outcry, Trump administration says it is reconsidering deporting seriously ill immigrants

Following outrage from the public and doctors, the Trump administration on Monday said it is rethinking its decision to deport immigrants who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses.

Under its deferred action program, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services agency let undocumented immigrants avoid deportation if they or family members were undergoing medical treatment for serious illnesses. To participate, immigrants had to request a renewal every two years. On Aug. 7, the program was ended without any public notice, and immigrants who recently made requests were sent letters telling them the agency was no longer accepting the requests, and they would face deportation if they didn't leave the U.S. within 33 days.

On Monday, the agency said it will "complete the caseload that was pending on August 7," but did not say if the program will keep going after these applications go through. An official told The New York Times the agency is still reviewing the program and has not made a final decision on whether to continue some version of the initiative. The agency said that annually, it receives 1,000 applications for the program.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Several of the immigrants who received letters have participated in clinical studies and drug trials, including Maria Isabel Bueso, 24. She has a rare genetic disease, and when she was a child, doctors in the U.S. asked if she could come from Guatemala and participate in a drug trial. Thanks to Bueso, a treatment was discovered for her disease, and has extended the life span of a typical patient. This treatment is not available in Guatemala, and her doctors told the Times without her medication, Bueso, whose parents have private insurance and cover all of her health-care costs, will die.