5-Year-Old Sofi Cruz Runs to Pope to Ask Him to Fight for Immigrants

Sofi Cruz, the five-year-old daughter of Oaxacan immigrants to Los Angeles, was carried over a security barrier today in Washington and taken to greet Pope Francis. The little girl hugged him ecstatically around the neck, then handed him a letter asking him to fight for immigrants.

You’re gonna cry. It’s ok.

NBC Los Angeles reports that Cruz handed the Pope a t-shirt and a letter. The shirt read, “Papa Rescate DAPA,” or Deferred Action for Parental Accountability, the immigration reform program which would have allowed undocumented people to work legally and protected them from deportation. In July, an appeals court granted an injunction against it, blocking its implementation for now.

Cruz and her family belong to La Senora Reina de Los Angeles Church. The little girl told NBC days ago that she hoped to persuade the Pope to talk to President Obama, saying she fears her parents will be deported. She had a speech planned for the Pope, she told NBC:

“Pope Francis,” she says, “I want to tell you that my heart is sad and I would like to ask you to speak with the president and the Congress and legalizing my parents because every day I am scared that one day they will take them away from me.”

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