Bone marrow transplants can cure people with lymphoma, leukemia and other blood cancers. But it is becoming increasingly difficult to find donors for Hispanic patients. Some experts say it is an unintended consequence of President Trump's tough new immigration policies. NY1's Jessica Abo filed the following report.

A year ago, Manny Valdes was a busy family man who spent his days working as an IT Director and his free time following his favorite college football team, the Miami Hurricanes. Now, the father of two is confined to a bed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, hoping someone who hears his story will be willing to save his life.

"It took them about five weeks to figure out I had AML - Acute Myeloid Leukemia," Valdes explained.

Acute Myeloid Leukemia is a fast-growing blood cancer. A bone marrow transplant, replacing the unhealthy blood-forming cells with healthy ones, can cure AML or at least hold it at bay. But a check against the 30 million potential donors in the international bone marrow registry did not produce a match for Valdes. One problem is Valdes' Cuban ancestry.

"I'm Hispanic and I've been looking for my donor for the past six months now," Valdes said.

According to Gift of Life Marrow Registry - only two percent of Caucasians cannot find a match. For Hispanic and Latino patients more than half won't find a donor.

Hispanics have long been under represented in the bone marrow registry and some experts say the imbalance has grown worse since President Trump took office. Nick Hudson of the Gift of Life Marrow Registry says the administration's hard line against undocumented immigrants has made more Hispanics relcutant to step forward and register as potential donors.

"The fear to sign up as a bone marrow donor as someone who comes from a Hispanic-Latino background is completely tied to the past six months and the current administration," Hudson said. "Fear we are going to give their data to the government or that data can be subpoened. We're never going to give that information. It's all private like other medical information, but people are scared that Immigration Services are going to knock on their door or a door of a family member."

Hudson says all donors are identified as a number, not as a name. To help address these concerns, Gift of Life has launched a new website "Regalo de Vida"  to appeal to potential donors who are Spanish-speaking and their family members.

"It's not only educating them, it's empowering them that you can take a step to save a life," Hudson added.

Ernesto Mandowsky is Hispanic and became a bone marrow donor in 2014. He hopes more people join the registry to give people like Valdes the gift of life.

"As a Hispanic, that's one of the biggest values we've all grown up with," said Mandowsky. "Everyone has a big feel on the family "la familia la communidad" and to strengthen that community, I feel entering the database - now I am part of this community of people who could potentially save someone's life."

People like Valdes who need his community's support more than ever.

"I've been through a lot in my life. I've been blessed and lucky, so hopefully I can push this through and this is just the next chapter in my life, you know?" Valdes said.

To learn more, visit regalodevida.org or gol.org.