U.S. allows Cuban boy with leukemia to get medical treatment in Miami

After a seemingly endless wait, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) granted humanitarian parole to José Camilo Cateura Díaz, an 11-year-old Cuban boy who has leukemia and needs treatment in Miami.

The agency received the case of Milo, as his family affectionately calls him, in October, but it was not until Wednesday, Dec. 21, that the visa was granted.

Milo is in Havana’s Institute of Hematology and Immunology, where he had to receive a platelet transfusion to stabilize him before the trip.

Milo’s condition worsened during the long immigration process, which took almost two months.

“I thought it was going to be fast; that he would leave the hospital here directly to the hospital there,” said the boy’s mother, Judith Díaz Valentí.

During that time, the child had to undergo three radical treatments to counteract the accelerated progression of the disease. The strong medications caused Milo to bleed from his mouth and nose.

Milo’s case met the emergency requirements to be handled expeditiously, said immigration lawyer Zulimary Maymi-Serrano, a legal intermediary between the family and the U.S. agency.

Despite the average wait time being 90-120 days, according to the agency, the attorney said she believes emergency cases similar to Milo’s should be resolved sooner.

“Even though the case of José Camilo was resolved expeditiously, it is a case that should have been handled even more quickly to preserve the integrity and health of the child,” said Maymi-Serrano.

Oncologist Guillermo R. De Angulo, who will receive him at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, says the wait put the child’s life in danger.

“The resistance of the disease increases. That is the concern you have when everything takes time,” said the doctor.

Once he arrives in Miami, Milo will undergo tests that will help identify a specific treatment.

It is hoped that he will go into remission in about a month. Then he will be prepared for a bone-marrow transplant in about three months.

The boy will travel to South Florida with his father, Jesús Cateura, who has accompanied him during his treatments in Havana because he is the one who “manages to hide a little better” the sadness of seeing his son going through painful procedures. A recent treatment was done without anesthesia because there was no more at the hospital, according to his family.

His mother will stay in Cuba with his brother. Despite being happy that Milo’s humanitarian parole was approved, she admits she is afraid of the separation that awaits them. She speaks of taking food to him in his hospital bed, getting catheters and medicines from other countries and other things that she has done for her son.

“They tell me that it’s different there, that I shouldn’t be worried, but it’s hard to imagine anything different from what you’ve lived through your whole life,” she said.

Update: José Camilo has arrived in the United States and is currently receiving medical care at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. The boy’s family has started a GoFundMe to help with expenses.

This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 10:58 PM.