U.S. lets Mexican woman in to help sick sister

A woman who needs a bone-marrow transplant says she is finally getting the help she needs after the U.S. government initially denied her the life-saving donor she knew she needed. Alicia Nino DePalma is a legal U.S. resident. She has leukemia and doctors said that a bone marrow transplant is the best way to regain her health quickly. Her best match was her sister, who lives in Mexico, but the family says the sister was denied a visa. However, things have changed. Channel 2s Amy Napier Viteri was at the airport Friday night as DePalmas sister arrived from Mexico. The family says after the visa was denied, they applied for humanitarian parole and got the green light. Viteri was there as twin brothers Gabriel and Ariel DePalma hugged their aunt, Socorro Nio, who made the long trip. I feel like we're good citizens and us not being able to get that, it was really frustrating at first, said Gabriel DePalma. Gabriel says his mother, Alicia, is a legal U.S. resident. He and his siblings are U.S. citizens, including his brother, a police officer in the city of Brookhaven. He says tests showed Alicia's sister was a perfect match for a bone marrow transplant. The problem: The U.S. Embassy in Mexico denied her request for a visa. They were afraid that she was going to come to the U.S. and stay here not return to Mexico, Gabriel said. Not the case, he insists, saying his aunt plans to return to Mexico, where she owns homes and where her family is. The family hired an attorney and applied for humanitarian parole. Nio also had stem cells removed and transported to Atlanta as a backup. But the trip was approved and she boarded a flight Friday to see her sister for the first time in 16 years. One obstacle gone, a new challenge ahead. It's going to be yet another thing we have to get ready for, because it's not going to be easy, Gabriel said. The family says Alicia will now start a more aggressive round of chemotherapy and radiation before they do the transplant. Her sister will be here for six months in case they need to repeat the process.

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U.S. lets Mexican woman in to help sick sister