Cruel Intentions: If Isobel Bueso Is Forced To Leave U.S., It's A Death Sentence

Rachel Maddow is not letting go of the story that children with rare diseases who are being treated in the U.S. have been given 33 days to leave the U.S.

In letters reviewed by The New York Times, Ms. Bueso, her family and other deferred action applicants were told that requests would be considered only from people who are in the military, and that the authorities would “commence removal proceedings” against those who did not leave the country.

University of California San Francisco Benioff Children's Hospital‎ has been treating a young Guatemalan woman named Isabel Bueso since she was seven years old as part of clinical trials for a rare genetic disease. It will be impossible for her to get this treatment in her home country, Dr. Paul Harmatz told Maddow.

"We're really handing her a death sentence. It's as if we're pulling the plug on a respirator or stopping feedings," he said bluntly. "We have really devastated this family."

Harmatz, a pediatric gastroenterologist, praised Isobel's family for moving to the U.S. for these clinical trials that will help children around the world and says they couldn't have done it without her.