Sophie Cruz: 5-Year-Old Girl Gives Letter To Pope Francis, Parents Are Illegal Immigrants
A 5-year-old immigrant girl, identified as Sophie Cruz, was able to get past the barricades and reach Pope Francis as he drove by in the Popemobile. She gave him a moving message that has gone viral, according to the Washington Post.
Sophie Cruz, whose parents are undocumented immigrants from Mexico, had attempted to get close to Pope Francis on another occasion, but was unsuccessful. However, this time, the Pontiff motioned for her to approach, and she did.
The 5-year-old girl and her sister were born in the U.S., so they have no worries, but their parents are constantly afraid they will be deported. Sophie Cruz’s father tells her the truth, when she asks after another family she knows gets separated.
The immigration crisis in the U.S. had been hotly debated by both the Republican and Democratic presidential candidates. What to do about the millions of undocumented people in the country has politicians scratching their heads, and recently, this group has been under scrutiny after one illegal immigrant shot and killed American Kate Steinle in San Francisco in July, while she walked with her dad.
Sophie Cruz gave the pope a letter because she doesn’t want her parents deported http://t.co/XCd62aJaYz pic.twitter.com/hC8sRfm938
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 24, 2015
But how did little Sophie Cruz finally manage to get close enough to Pope Francis to talk to him and give him a note? With some planning and a little luck.
Sophie — who lives in Los Angeles — attempted to get near Pope Francis while he was going around in his Popemobile at the Ellipse outside the White House, but was stopped by security. The second attempt came when her dad lifted her as the Pontiff drove by. As is his custom, he stopped, and this time Sophie got the chance that she’d be hoping for.
According to the Washington Post, Pope Francis kissed her cheek and took her envelope, which included a letter about immigration and a drawing with some words in Spanish which translate as “My little friends and I love each other no matter our skin color.”
Sophie Cruz said her hope is that the Pope can bring change to U.S. immigration laws and added that she also has a letter she hopes to give to President Obama some day.
“The fathers and mothers of U.S.-born children live in complete uncertainty,” Sophie Cruz’s father, Raul, who came to the U.S. 10 years ago, said. “I believe Pope Francis was sent by God.”
Alicia Flores, executive director of La Hermandad in Los Angeles, said the group chose Sophie Cruz to approach Pope Francis after another young girl in Rome did something similar. The 5-year-old said, “God make me like that,” when asked how she got the courage to talk to Pope Francis.
[Photo by Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images]
