L.I. Congressman Urges Feds To Allow Potential Kidney Donor Into U.S.
OLD BETHPAGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Bureaucracy is apparently standing in the way of a life-saving kidney transplant for a Long Island woman.
Congressman Steve Israel is calling on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to grant humanitarian parole to Caroline Dela Cruz of the Philippines who has offered to donate a kidney to her friend, 75-year-old Esther Slubski of Old Bethpage.
Time Running Out For L.I. Woman In Need Of Kidney Transplant
"Open that door, grant the humanitarian parole and provide Esther with the kidney that she needs," Israel said.
Dela Cruz has been denied a visa four times, prohibiting her from traveling to the United States for the surgery.
"You have a woman who is fighting to save her life, you have a donor in the Philippines who has the means to save her life and it shouldn't be the bureaucracy to say no to both people," Israel said.
Israel cited Slubski's compelling circumstances in asking Washington to let Dela Cruz come to the U.S. to donate her kidney, CBS 2's John Slattery reported.
"Caroline Dela Cruz is not looking to live in the U.S. She's not looking to take the job of an American who is working. She's looking to give a kidney and then return to the Phillipines," he said.
Time Running Out For L.I. Woman In Need Of Kidney Transplant
Slubski is afraid her time is running out.
"It has been very hard for me to realize that after going through so many steps the very last one is the one that's going to stop me," Slubski said.
Her son, Elias, said his mother will die without the transplant.
"We're playing with my mother's life because time is running out," Slubski's son, Elias, said. "No one can say whether she has one week left or three months left. She could fall off the cliff in terms of her kidney functions tomorrow."
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