Sophie Cruz, 6-Year-Old Who Handed Pope Francis A Letter, Meets With President Obama

Last September Pope Francis visited the U.S. and one of the most touching moments was no doubt when 6-year-old Sophie Cruz was able to sneak past security to deliver a letter to the Pontiff.

The letter was a plea to the Pope and the U.S. government to help her parents from being deported, so her family wouldn’t be destroyed. “Pope Francis, I want to tell you that my heart is sad and I would like to ask you to speak with the President and the congress in legalizing my parents because every day I am scared that one day they will take them away from me. I believe I have the right to live with my parents, I have the right to be happy,” Sophie wrote. “All immigrants just like my dad help feed this country. They deserve to live with dignity. They deserve to live with respect. They deserve an immigration reform.”

Sophie not only got the Pontiff’s attention, but the entire world’s, which is why she got a special invitation to the White House Cinco de Mayo celebration, where she got to meet President Obama, and listened to his speech on how the bond between Mexico and the U.S. has strengthened.

“Together, we continue to fix our broken immigration system. The fact that we weren’t able to get it through Congress has been one of the most frustrating aspects of my presidency,” Obama explained. “But our ability to take actions within my legal authority to make our immigration system fairer and smarter and more just I continue to believe are going to help pave the way for us to finally get the law passed through the next Congress.”

However, Sophie’s invitation was bittersweet, as her parents were unable to enter the White House and had to wait a block away through the duration of the event. This was because they were unable to clear a background check for lack of social security numbers.