M2M (Ministry to Ministries) engages in ministry leadership, serving basic needs and helping others. M2M shares a tearful plea from Keyla’s caregivers in their pursuit to get her the care she desperately needs.
Keyla was born on August 22, 1999. There was such trauma during her birth that she has been diagnosed and treated for “partial and complex epilepsy, cerebral palsy, static encephalopathy, pseudo-bulbar palsy, and microcephaly —- all these neurologic conditions as a result of insult early in her life.” They are permanent and cause Keyla to have cognitive and developmental impairments as well as convulsive seizures. Her seizures are life threatening. The diagnosis of a pediatric neurologist who has volunteered with us many times and who with my wife, Dr. Nancy Rodriguez Cox, was able to control Keyla’s seizures —- “a stable home environment with adequate medical follow-up, medications, and rehabilitative and educational therapies,” all critical to her future growth and development and her neurologic health.
When Keyla was born no one knew who the father was. He could be a Mexican citizen, or he could be a US citizen. He was one of 5 young men who raped Keyla’s mother, Nereyda, when she was just 12 years old. Keyla’s mother was not involved in caring for Keyla and disappeared a few year later. Keyla’s great grandmother, Antonia, told us that Nereyda was dead. Keyla’s maternal grandfather is Sergio. He has lived for years in the USA and has had no contact with Keyla, except for one telephone call with her in the fall of 2011. Sergio’s wife, Eulalia, died giving birth to Nereyda. That left Antonia, Keyla’s great grandmother, as Keyla’s sole caregiver.
Antonia really loved Keyla. She was by her side almost all the time. I met them on an unpaved road near a former Matamoros garbage dump which had been settled by several hundred families. This was March of 2001. It was obvious that Keyla had many problems. Antonia had stopped me to ask for help. She needed anti-seizure medicine for Keyla. I bought the medicine immediately. From that March of 2001 encounter until June of 2005, Nancy and I bought and delivered anti-seizure medicine to Keyla every 21 days. Since Antonia and Keyla did not have a home, we usually had to search amongst 4 or 5 homes to find them.
During the summer of 2005, I noticed that Antonia was struggling with her health a little bit more than usual. Nancy gave an invitation to Antonia to stay at our refuge, Casa Bugambilia, where she could rest, and we could help her with Keyla.
We all began to grow closer. And Keyla began to develop. She began talking. She began dancing. It was a surprise to see these developments. It just seemed so much better for both Antonia and Keyla. On December 28, 2005, after the baptism of my son, Jesse, Antonia asked Nancy and me to find someone to baptize Keyla (she had tried and been denied by several pastors) and to take Keyla into our family (as we had done for Jesse) should anything ever happen to her, Antonia. Nancy and I discussed this and committed to do both. Antonia was in her early 60’s and appeared fit enough. So I placed my attention on the baptism.
On January 12, 2006, Antonia had an infection serious enough that Nancy felt it better to have her treated at Pumarejo Hospital. Antonia was there for 3 days when she passed away. This was a shock. We considered Keyla part of our family already, but our commitment to care for Keyla was reshaped by Antonia’s death. The first conversation I had with Keyla was to explain to her that Antonia was living in heaven. I told her she was right beside my mother who had also gone to heaven, when I was 7 years old, practically the same age as her age. We had that in common. And they were both doing very well.
I do not believe a day passed when we failed to have (in Spanish) this exchange many times:
Papi, where is Toñia?
She is in heaven.
And your mama?
Right beside Toñia. And they are well.
What is her name?
Tony, almost like Toñia. They love us.
And guess what, Keyla?
What?
We love you, too.
Somehow this reassured Keyla and we went on to the next activity.
We had that stabile family environment for several years until June of 2011. Perhaps Keyla met as many as 1,000 volunteers in that 6 year stretch. She really loved being with the volunteers, singing with them and posing for photos. And it would not surprise me at all if each one of those volunteers had been profoundly changed by being with Keyla. She just lit up the room. Keyla was able to go to special schools, one run by the government, one private and our Las Estrellitas classroom at Casa Bugambilia. And Keyla was baptized and enjoyed sitting on the front row of the churches she attended 2 or 3 times a week.
Nancy and I had to leave Matamoros on May 28, 2011. The violence in Matamoros made it too dangerous to live there any longer. On June 7, 2011, after receiving the counsel of our State Department and an US representative and the knowledge of the Department of Homeland Security, I took Keyla to the bridge and asked for humanitarian parole so that she could be with Nancy and me in Texas, and we could pursue adoption of Keyla in the USA.
This request for parole was immediately denied.
Keyla was detained by the Office of Refugee Resettlement on June 7, 2011. She has been detained on the date of this note for 1,243 days. She has been in an unknown psychiatric facility for 53 days. We have had no contact with her since June 7, 2011.
Based upon comments made directly to Nancy and me or to attorneys representing us, this is what we know about Keyla.
We were told that she slept at the bridge for at least one evening, that she stayed at a group detention center in Los Fresnos, Texas for several days, that she was sent to Chicago to a non-profit called Heartland Alliance, that she was sent to another non-profit called Lutheran Family Services in Pennsylvania and placed with a foster family, and that she was sent to an unknown California psychiatric facility on September 8, 2014.
We were told in the summer of 2011 and the spring of 2013 that she was having seizures, but that she was receiving appropriate medical care. We have been told that she was hospitalized in July to control her seizures.
We were told in November of 2012 that she was with a loving, compassionate foster family and receiving the therapies that she needed.
In those 1,243 days, it appears that Keyla has lived in at least 5 different places, that her seizures have continued and that she now requires hospitalization in a psychiatric facility. That is all that we know.
At present there are federal lawsuits to get Keyla back to us. The attorneys representing the federal government are maintaining that we do not have standing. If they prevail, I am not sure that we will have any legal options left.
Please be certain that Keyla is part of our family. Antonia, Keyla’s great grandmother and primary caregiver, asked to be her family. Her grandfather has granted us this privilege. The State of Texas has made Nancy and me her guardians. We gave her a stabile family environment where she was striving. We will take her back no matter what her present condition is. She is alone and broken in that psychiatric facility. This is the message that I am trying to get to that facility and to someone who will give a compassionate response:
Please consider this as a request to allow us to help Keyla Eulalia Ruiz Guajardo. She may be in your facility. My wife, Dr. Nancy Rodriguez Cox, and Dr. David Franz, a pediatric neurologist with Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, were able to control Keyla’s seizures. Both wish to help Keyla.
From the time Keyla was almost 6 years old until she was almost 12 years old, my wife served the role of being like Keyla’s mother. Here is a photo of Keyla with Nancy in our kitchen in Matamoros. I believe it depicts the love between the two of them. And it is this, the love a mother has for her child and the child for her mother, which we believe could be so important for Keyla’s healing, especially at this time of Keyla’s hospitalization in California.
Please allow Nancy to be by Keyla’s side and help the doctors help Keyla. She can provide that sense of security which Keyla needs. She also has an extensive history, medically and otherwise, of Keyla’s condition.
Thank you for your consideration.
Larry Cox
Please help Larry and Nancy through prayer and sharing this message with your network of friends.
Thank you for sharing this. After this post, we learned through the federal judge handling our petition that Keyla is being treated for “major depression” and is responding poorly. I posted this at a Facebook group called Friends of Casa B:
Oh, Keyla. The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) moved you to the Crittenton Care Provider Program in Fullerton, California on September 8th. ORR maintains “there are no available beds for you in long-term foster care placement in Pennsylvania, including the foster family with whom ‘you’ previously resided.” “‘The Crittenton program intends to pursue long-term foster care placement and eventually transition you to long-term foster care under the URM program.” In November of 2012 ORR wrote that Keyla was with a caring foster family, receiving therapy and doing well. By the summer of 2014 she was hospitalized in Philadelphia to control her seizures. Very difficult to understand all of this. I have written Crittenton several times to get Nancy to Keyla as she is being treated for major depression. There has been no answer. The first item mentioned in treating Keyla is a stabile family environment. That she had with us. We never have thought of Keyla in terms of an “available bed.”
This is a report from July of 2015. Until my last breath I will work to get Keyla home. It is quite possible that she is experiencing her federal captivity as a kidnapping according to some knowledgeable friends. We continue at our refuge, Casa Bugambilia, in Matamoros with the prospects of caring for more children who have been abandoned and live with physical and/or intellectual disabilities. With gratitude,larry 10/19/2015
July, 2015: I know many of you are anxious to hear how the court hearing in PA went earlier this week. Larry’s attorney Joe Hohenstein, asked me to post the following to update everyone on the events of the last few days:
“This is a difficult post for us to provide for all those concerned about Larry and Nancy’s struggles to have Keyla returned to them.
First, the oral argument in Pennsylvania Superior Court on Tuesday was hard. It was short – only 5 minutes per side because it was being heard on an expedited basis. It was also full of questions from the judges as to why the case should not be with the federal judges and the federal agencies. The attorney officially representing Keyla denied taking his instructions from the federal government and said the case was moot now that Keyla is no longer in Pennsylvania. We were left with the feeling that yet another decision maker – the Pennsylvania Court – does not want to insert itself into the case. The result will not be known for some time but we did not leave the hearing feeling too optimistic. Ironically, the attorney appointed for Keyla wished us well in the end, but those well wishes felt a bit empty after the way in which he had treated this case as if he just wanted it to be done with and not its weight on his shoulders anymore.
Then after the hearing, and after we had discussed possibly changing our strategies, Larry and Nancy were waiting for their plane at the airport when Larry had a heart attack. With godspeed he was transported to a nearby hospital where a stent was placed to fix the blockage in his heart. He was awake and alert quickly, making jokes about what name he should give the stent. He is currently recovering in the hospital with a target for leaving for Texas on Saturday. The decision remains to be made as to whether he can fly home or will have to travel on the ground. The doctors need to review and determine whether his liver enzymes are high enough to make flying safe. Again, he is doing well and in recovery with Nancy, his son and his sister at his side.
For her part, Nancy has held up very well. She was left in the early hours with a limited ability to speak with the doctors (none of whom spoke Spanish) but she has since been able to get communication. She has been in touch with the folks at Casa Bugambilia, has Larry’s son and sister there to support and made sure everyone at home is taken care of, even as she tries to get enough rest to be there for Larry.
Finally, with these events the decision has been made to make an offer and a request to the US government. At this time, Larrry and Nancy continue to request that they be appointed caregivers for Keyla. In exchange they have offered to drop all of the lawsuits and to waive any further suits for damages provided that Keyla’s medical care remains paid for by the government. This offer is made in the belief that one of the government’s biggest worries is that they will face a lawsuit for the damages of what has happened to Keyla in the more than four years she has been in their custody.
Today marks 4 years, 1 month and 9 days since Keyla was last with any of the family she loves.
We ask that you keep Nancy, Larry, Keyla and all their family in your prayers. Larry will be recovering in San Antonio with his sister shortly and, God willing, Keyla will be home with them all soon.”
Larry needs to concentrate on his recovery, so Joe and I will post updates here on his behalf. Your good thoughts and prayers are, as always, most appreciated by Larry and Nancy.
Blessings,
Joan Hamilton
Joan, we continue to pray for Nancy, Larry, Keyla and all their family in Jesus’ name. Please continue to give us updates, even if they are in small bites.
Joan, please go to the M2M Facebook page and share the post about her story with your friends. Thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/m2morg
December 20, 2015
Thank you for posting about Keyla. My wife and I continue serving in Matamoros with concern for the effects of the narco-violence there. We continue trying to get Keyla back to us. It has been 1,658 days since our federal government detained her. Her are a couple of recent posts at a Facebook group called Bring Keyla Home:
On my mind? I will never let go of the idea that mi Keylita will be back with us, her family, and that we will work on healing, all of us, in every moment. This unwanted, unnecessary ordeal has now reached 1,651 days. We are relentless in our petition to speak with our federal government employees who have kept Keyla in federal captivity. We continue to experience that which seems to be their continuing obdurateness. We know that she has been broken by their treatment of her and pray for wisdom and strength. Un dia.
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12-15-2015
I have to say it is on Nancy’s mind. She is scrambling to obtain treatment for Roberto, one of our residents at Casa Bugambilia who joined in with us last month. It is untreated cancer of his face. She has contacted politicians, medical specialists and government social workers in Matamoros, Ciudad Victoria and Monterrey. They are listening to her, and there is reason to believe that they will help with some level of care and the cost. This response from the Mexican government is in such contrast to our US government’s response to us about Keyla. We have been met by what has been described to us as stonewalling and scapegoating by our federal government workers at the Department of Justice and the Office of Refugee Settlement. She is in Ciudad Victoria with Roberto, somewhat fatigued from the effort to help Roberto, wondering why this is happening. That is on her mind. I am too far away to help.
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Now Jesse is 14. Nancita is 15. And Keyla is 16. Jesse and Nancita are with us in Texas, in one home, in one community and one school system since Keyla’s federal captivity began on June 7, 2011. Keyla has been in as many as 10 different living situations with strangers in Texas, California, Pennsylvania and Illinois. She has been hospitalized to control her seizures while held by our federal government and its contractors. She was also hospitalized last year at a psychiatric facility. We have been told that our federal government’s contractors, many of which are church-related non-profit organizations, are under federal orders not to talk with us about Keyla. We have been told that some of these non-profits are concerned that she has not been returned to us. That concern is off-the-record. It seems to me that if these organizations are intent on serving in the best interests of Keyla that they should speak with us.