Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

In this photo provided by Catholic Coalition of Immigrant Rights, Pope Francis touches 10-year-old Jersey Vargas, who traveled to the Vatican from Los Angeles to plead with him to help spare her father from deportation, during a public audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Her father, Mario Vargas, in the United States illegally, had been in federal custody and faced possible deportation. After speaking with Francis, Mario Vargas was released on bond from immigration detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday, March 28, 2014. Jersey Vargas was part of a California delegation that sought to encourage the Vatican to prod President Obama on immigration reform.

Catholic Coalition of Immigrant Rights / AP

In this photo provided by Catholic Coalition of Immigrant Rights, Pope Francis touches 10-year-old Jersey Vargas, who traveled to the Vatican from Los Angeles to plead with him to help spare her father from deportation, during a public audience at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. Her father, Mario Vargas, in the United States illegally, had been in federal custody and faced possible deportation. After speaking with Francis, Mario Vargas was released on bond from immigration detention, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Friday, March 28, 2014. Jersey Vargas was part of a California delegation that sought to encourage the Vatican to prod President Obama on immigration reform.