Community seeks release of ICE detainee for brother's life-saving kidney transplant
Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez said his brother could save his life.
Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez , 37, was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure in late 2023, not long after arriving in Chicago from Venezuela and applying for asylum. Doctors say he needs a life-saving kidney transplant.
His brother, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez, who is also an immigrant, was set to be that donor. But on March 3, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs outside their home in Cicero and is at risk of being deported to Venezuela.
On Monday, Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez, joined by community members, activists, faith leaders and elected officials, called on immigration authorities to release his brother under humanitarian parole so he can donate his kidney and save Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez's life.
“I need the help of authorities for the release of my brother because I find myself in a very grave health situation,” Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez said in Spanish to the crowd of about 50 people at Chicago Workers Collaborative in Berwyn. “I’m a young person with their life ahead of them, my brother only came here with the hope of giving me a kidney.”
Many at the event held signs to show their support. “This is a medical emergency, not a political debate,” one read. “Compassion not detention,” read another.
State Rep. Edgar Gonzalez, D-Chicago, was also among those in attendance.
Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez has a pending asylum application, which can take years to resolve and prevents him from leaving the country. He is the father of 9-year-old twin boys and a 17-year-old daughter who are back in Venezuela. He came to the U.S. in search of a better future for them, he said.
“I’d like to see them grow,” he said.
Pastor Beth Brown of Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church in Chicago said the decision should be simple for immigration authorities.
“How would you want your brother to be treated?,” she asked.
Jose Gregorio Gonzalez, 43, arrived in the U.S. in 2024 but was not able to offer evidence of a credible risk if he were to be returned to Venezuela. A judge gave him a removal order, according to Peter Meinecke, an attorney with the Resurrection Project who is representing Jose Gregorio Gonzalez.
At the time, Venezuela wasn’t accepting deportation flights. He was therefore placed in ICE detention for a couple of months. He was then released under ICE supervision in part due to humanitarian parole and because immigration authorities determined he was not a security threat. He lived with his brother for about year before he was again detained this month.
“He was never arrested, was never accused of any crimes,” Meinecke said. “He was living here peacefully and assisting his brother in his medical procedures.”
Meinecke said Jose Gregorio Gonzalez also does not have a criminal record in Venezuela.
Meinecke said a stay of removal petition was denied by ICE on Monday without stating a reason. A humanitarian parole application is still pending. Jose Gregorio Gonzalez is willing to go back to Venezuela after donating his kidney, Meinecke said.
“Relief in this case is not necessarily that Jose Gregorio gets to stay, it could very much mean that he still goes back,” Meinecke said. “Delaying deportation would allow him to save his brother’s life.”
And even if the brothers aren't compatible for donation, Meinecke said, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez could still donate his kidney and secure one for his brother through a kidney exchange, which connects donors with compatible recipients.
Tenoch Rodriguez, deportation defense organizer with the Resurrection Project, said the brothers' case exemplifies why humanitarian parole exists.
"It also exemplifies the inhumanity and cruelty that thousands of immigrant families are experiencing throughout this country," Rodriguez said. "This is not an isolated incident. It's a devastating example of how our immigration system prioritizes detention and punishment over life, love and basic human dignity."
Jose Gregorio Gonzalez is being held at Clay County Detention Center in Indiana. Jose Alfredo Pacheco Gonzalez said he got a message from his brother on Sunday after going days without hearing from him.
“He told me not to give up."