A 9-year-old boy with a massive tumor was whisked from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico in an armored vehicle by U.S. federal agents and taken across the border for treatment in New Mexico, The Associated Press reported.
With no money for medical care, the family sought treatment in Juarez and El Paso, but did not receive any help removing the tumor, which has afflicted Jose since birth.
Si Budagher, pastor of First Baptist Church of Rio Rancho, N.M., said the church members spotted the boy while doing missionary work and felt compelled to do something to help him. Church members only recently resumed missionary work in the border city after homicide rates have fallen in Ciudad Juarez this year.
Denise Gutierrez, a victim assistance coordinator for Homeland Security Investigations, said the boy and his parents were granted a 45-day humanitarian visa for treatment in New Mexico, and a coalition of U.S. federal agencies began working to get them into the United States.
