Panorama City girl hopes to thank Pope Francis following father's release from ICE Detention
PANORAMA CITY, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Jersey Vargas says the moment she shared her family's story with Pope Francis changed her life forever. She made a quilt to thank him and hopes to present it to him in person this week.
"It's going to be kind of like a once-in-a-lifetime experience being over there," Vargas said.
The Panorama City girl flew to Rome last year with a group of immigration activists and managed to work her way to the front of the line to snag the pope's attention before he was scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama for the first time.
"First, I told him that please help me because my dad is in the process of deportation and I told him that it's also unfair that other families are also going through the same situation," Vargas said. "That's when he came close to me. He blessed me and he kissed me on my forehead. He told me in my ear that he was going to talk with the president."
Her efforts worked. In May, Vargas ran into the arms of her father, Mario Vargas-Lopez, at Los Angeles International Airport after spending two years apart.
"Thank you Pope Francis for helping my family. Now, we're all happier than ever," Vargas said.
"Contrary to what Donald Trump says, immigrants are not murderers. They're not rapists," immigration attorney Alex Galvez said.
Vargas' undocumented father was convicting of driving under the influence and was facing deportation while being held in a Tennessee jail.
Now, five of the family's six children are headed to Philadelphia and Washington D.C. to see the pope. They have tickets to every major event.
The Vargas family will see him inside Congress and possibly at the White House. They hope he can make a difference in American politics and "try to change the hearts of the Republicans for them to give us the immigration reform," Vargas said.
