Woman fighting cancer seeks return of deported husband

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Maria Paxtor Perez a Brooklyn mother of two is battling stage 4 breast cancer and fighting for the return of her husband from Mexico. Doctors have told her she has months, if not weeks, to live.

Her husband, Benjamin Barragan, is stuck in Mexico and not allowed back into the United States.

"Please bring my dad he helps my mom in every way. My mom is sick, he’s really responsible," said their 9 year-old-son, Daniel Barragan.

Benjamin Barragan returned to Mexico on March 6, 2018, to fill out paperwork for his green card. Maria, originally from Guatemala and now an American citizen, hired a lawyer to help her husband obtain his legal status.

"They said that he had to go to the city of Juarez in Mexico To get fingerprinted," said Paxtor Perez.  "They gave him the appointment for March 15th. Everything was normal."

But, she received a phone call notifying her Barragan’s green card was denied because in 1994 he came to the U.S. illegally. He then left and came back in 1999 the same way and was detained by ICE. 

She now worries about who will take care of her kids when she's gone.

"I have a lot of responsibilities to do. Sometimes my mom doesn’t feel well I have to cook for my brother and me," said her oldest son Daniel Barragan.

About a month ago Barragan applied for a humanitarian visa hoping he would be allowed back into the country to care for his wife, but the visa was also denied.

Carlos Gerardo Izzo, Consul for Public Affairs and Spokesperson of The Consulate General of Mexico in New York tells Fox 5 in a statement:  "The top priority -and the strongest mandate of the Consulate of Mexico in New York- is to protect the wellbeing and the interests of the Mexicans in the region.  Our consular officials met several times with Mrs. Maria Paxtor in order to provide legal and consular advice, as well as to guide her husband of Mexican Nationality, in the procedure to request a visa for humanitarian reasons to visit her from Mexico. The request was unfortunately denied.  We have been providing them also legal counseling -through our consulting lawyers- in regard of the care and welfare of their children in this difficult time, and in the possible future scenarios.  We will continue supporting them and vigilant to their needs."

 Now Barragan has to wait 10 years before returning to the U.S. That is time Maria doesn't have. She is in the process of making arrangements to see who will take care of her boys once she passes.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to raise $50,000, money that will go to help Cristian and Daniel.