HAVANA, Cuba. – The United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has marked as a “priority” and accelerated the processing of The case of Jorge Esteban Reina Llerenaa seven-year-old Cuban boy with leukemia and in need of a humanitarian visa.
The news was reported to CubaNet by the minor’s mother, Arlety Llerena Martínez, and is the result of the efforts of the father, a Cuban citizen residing in the United States who requested the mediation of the senator Marco Rubio.
“USCIS systems indicate that the associated I-131 has already been flagged as a priority and the case has been expedited through preprocessing and assigned to an adjudicator. The case is pending review,” USCIS responded to the senator’s office.
“Please note that expedited processing does not guarantee an instant decision; it simply moves the case forward for processing and consideration. The applicant must still meet all applicable eligibility criteria. If additional information is needed from the applicant, the applicant will be notified directly,” the response adds.
The statement was sent by the senator’s office to the boy’s family, who had already submitted the request six months ago and had not received a response.
Last August, Jorgito’s mother, as the boy is called, offered statements to CubaNet about the urgency of his request. The infant was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia when he was one year and nine months old.
Jorgito has had constant relapses because the chemotherapy treatment he is receiving every 28 days at the Institute of Hematology and Immunology in Havana, although it has kept him stable, is not enough. The minor urgently needs a bone marrow transplant, an operation that is not performed in Cuba because the necessary resources do not exist.
“It is very sad and painful for me to hear that my child needs – and it is the only salvation – a bone marrow transplant that is not performed in Cuba. My concern, as a desperate mother, is that with 10% of life left in the country, he is only receiving maintenance treatment because they have no other option. The only hope for my child to be saved is to travel to the United States to have the bone marrow transplant,” she told CubaNet Llerena Martinez.
Before beginning the process of applying for a humanitarian visa, Jorge Reina registered his son at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami. “The doctors evaluated his medical history and agreed that the only solution is a bone marrow transplant,” said the mother.
Llerena Martínez said that there are several children in Cuba in similar circumstances and that their families are desperate. She also expressed her gratitude for the good news, which was made possible by the efforts of Jorgito’s father in the United States and the mediation of Senator Marco Rubio.
The family has also started a fundraiser to cover the cost of the trip to the United States and hospitalization through the platform giveahand.com.
