US EditionMan in limbo after brother detained by ICE while trying to donate kidney
- Alfredo Pacheco, a 37-year-old Venezuelan asylum seeker in Chicago with end-stage renal disease, is in desperate need of a kidney transplant from his older brother, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez, age 43, who was detained by immigration authorities on March 3 while trying to enter the U.S.
- Gonzalez, who arrived in late 2023 hoping to donate a kidney to save his brother's life, was placed in removal proceedings due to a previous order of removal, despite there being no deportation flights to Venezuela at the time of his detention.
- Pacheco, who fled violence and political turmoil in Venezuela and has been undergoing dialysis since being diagnosed shortly after arriving in Chicago in July 2022, has been approved for a transplant under public insurance and is on the waitlist at the University of Illinois Hospital, while Gonzalez awaits deportation at Clay County Detention Center in Indiana.
- State Democratic Party Chair Elizabeth 'Lisa' Hernandez, along with advocates and attorneys, highlights the case as an example of the turmoil immigrant families face, stating that every day Gonzalez remains detained increases the risk to Alfredo's life, while Pacheco says, "We both cried when they arrested him because we both know he is my lifeline."
- With his pending asylum case and coverage under the Illinois Medical Benefits for Asylum Applicants and Torture Victims program, Pacheco's attorney, Peter Meinecke, and others are pleading for Gonzalez's release on humanitarian parole so he can donate his kidney, after which ICE could detain him again and eventually remove him from the country, while Gonzalez expresses his biggest concern is deportation before his case is even considered.
18 Articles
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