Will US deny entry to 12-year-old Venezuelan earthquakes survivor?

TAMPA, Fla. — Ten minutes before two powerful earthquakes killed thousands in Venezuela on June 24, Antonella Narváez felt the need to call her mother, Cleudys Yépez. It was a brief conversation.

Yépez and her 12-year-old daughter, Isabella, had returned to Venezuela from the United States on June 1, just more than three weeks before the earthquakes. She was with her husband, Frank Camargo, 44, and their little girl when Narváez called that afternoon from Tampa.

“They were watching a movie while they waited to take Isabella to her beach volleyball class,” said Narváez, 18. “They were happy, as always.”

The family was in La Guaira, a coastal area north of Caracas that was among the hardest hit by the 7.2- and 7.5-magnitude earthquakes. The twin earthquakes caused dozens of buildings to collapse, including Residencias Caraballeda Sol, where Yépez, Camargo and Isabella lived.

The parents died under the rubble.

Isabella miraculously survived.

Now, Isabella’s family in Tampa is seeking legal help on obtaining a humanitarian visa for her to return to the United States. They face tough odds amid zero-tolerance immigration policies, travel bans and visa restrictions for Venezuelans.

Their effort to find a humanitarian pathway comes amid widespread calls for the Trump administration to reinstate immigration relief for Venezuelans, known as Temporary Protected Status. Such relief is granted to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries. The White House revoked the protection for thousands of Venezuelans last year.

“We want to explore every possible option to bring Isabella here because Venezuela is a country she barely knows,” said the girl’s aunt, Mariela Gari. “She grew up here in the U.S., and without her parents, life in Venezuela would be very difficult for her.”

A humanitarian permit “is a discretionary form of relief, not an automatic right to enter the United States,” said immigration attorney Laura Quintero, who has clients in Central Florida and Tampa.

Quintero said even though Isabella’s is a compelling case, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services would evaluate the totality of the circumstances involved.

“Approval is never guaranteed,” she said.

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to questions about what options are available in this case or what criteria the agencies would use to evaluate whether to grant the girl a visa.

Isabella, who turned 12 two days after the catastrophe, is staying with her paternal grandfather in the city of Maracaibo. She was rescued by one of Camargo’s friends about an hour after the building collapsed. He heard her calling for help and pulled her from the rubble, according to her relatives in Tampa. Isabella later told Narváez, her maternal half-sister, that her parents had protected her with their bodies.

“Isabella was barely hurt,” Narváez said. “She had a black eye and some scratches, but four days later she was fine. She looked as if she had fallen off a bicycle.”

In La Guaira, 190 buildings were destroyed and 850 others were damaged, according to Venezuelan officials. More than 4,500 people are dead.

Years before the disaster, Yépez and Camargo began a new life in the U.S. They arrived with Isabella in 2018 and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah, while their asylum case remained pending. The couple sold used cars and ran a small dealership.

They decided to go back to Venezuela, believing conditions in the country could improve after the Trump administration removed former President Nicolás Maduro from power in January.

Camargo returned first, in March. Yépez and Isabella stayed in Utah or a few more weeks. Before leaving, they traveled to Tampa to attend Narváez’s graduation from Jefferson High School and visit Gari, Yépez’s sister.

“It was one of the best moments of our lives,” Gari said. “It was wonderful.”

The family spent time at the beach and the pool. They shopped and played Uno. They ate Yépez’s cheese empanadas, which the family always joked about.

“She made the worst empanadas on the planet,” Gari said. “But we ate them anyway.”

Yépez worked as a preschool teacher in Venezuela before moving to the U.S. Gari said her sister had a special connection with children. Narváez described her mother as cheerful and funny.

The family remembered Camargo as outgoing and a devoted father.

“They could both make you smile, even when you didn’t feel like it,” Narváez said. “They loved Isabella very much.”

Gari said she asked her sister not to return to Venezuela because she was worried about Isabella, who had lived in Utah since she was 4. But Yépez went ahead with her plans. At the airport in Tampa, the family ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, shared laughs and took photos, thinking they would see each other soon.

“I realize those days we spent together as a family were our goodbye,” Gari said.

In Venezuela, Yépez and Camargo used their savings to buy and remodel a fifth-floor apartment.

Earlier the day of the earthquakes, Yépez recorded a video from her apartment and sent it to her daughter in Tampa. The video showed the mountains, green landscape and clouds along the coast.

Narváez said her mother included a message: “Thank you, God, for this view.”