Alfredo Pacheco and his older brother Jose Gregorio Gonzalez stood side by side, holding hands and occasionally looking at each other. It was unbelievable for the siblings to be together once again. Gonzales was detained to be deported.
Last week, Gonzalez was granted a temporary stay on humanitarian grounds after a group of advocates pushed immigration authorities for his release to save his brother’s life by donating his kidney.
Press from all over the nation gathered in the Pilsen Law Center to witness the unexpected move from ICE during the Trump regime, according to advocates.
The Venezuelan siblings and their supporters celebrated the win, but more than anything, the opportunity for Pacheco, who faces end-stage renal failure, to continue living.
Gonzalez migrated to the U.S. last year in hopes of donating a kidney to Pacheco, his younger brother. Despite being denied asylum, he stayed in the country under supervision.
However, Gonzalez was arrested by ICE agents on March 3 after getting home from Pacheco’s dialysis appointment outside their home in Cicero.
Gonzalez’s arrest triggered a flood of uproaring support from advocates and community members to find a way for Gonzalez to stay in the country to help his younger brother.
Despite the commitment from elected officials and advocates to gain sympathy from ICE agents towards the brothers’ case, there was little hope that the federal agency would budge to their humanitarian request given their ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to deport as many undocumented immigrants as possible.
After weeks of community organizing and advocacy, Gonzalez was temporarily released from ICE – a decision that some felt was surreal and hopeful not only for the brothers, but for the immigrant community.
“Most people who work in immigration will tell you that outcomes like this are not common. In this country, many nonviolent people have been detained for long periods of time, simply for not having appropriate immigration status,” said Peter Meinecke, Gonzalez’s attorney in a press conference.
Tenoch Rodriguez, a community organizer at the Resurrection Project, said he was surprised that ICE released Gonzalez after constant pushback.
“We all had in mind that this wasn’t going to happen,” Rodriguez said. “Hearing the news when he got released was unbelievable.”
Upon hearing the news, the brothers tried to contain their hope until it was a reality, he said.
“Jose Alfredo keeps emotions inside. He was [in] a really tough place,” Rodriguez said. “He didn’t want to believe it was happening until he saw his brother being released.”
For Pacheco, Gonzalez’s release was a “beautiful moment.”
“We have been separated for a month and a day, imagine that,” Pacheco said in Spanish.
Rodriguez said he feels proud to have been a part of a team who saved not only one life but potentially two. Gonzalez’s participation in a paired kidney exchange donation means his kidney will be donated to another recipient if it is incompatible with his brother. It would also put Pacheco higher in line to get the transplant that he desperately needs. Pacheco is currently in the transplant waitlist at UI health, according to a spokesperson.
The kidney transplant is critical to Pacheco’s survival, he said. He has nearly 100% kidney failure and requires dialysis multiple times a week, according to a Resurrection Project press release.
“I came from dialysis this morning. I wouldn’t wish this illness on anybody,” Pacheco said in Spanish.
Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia, from the Illinois 4th district, fought alongside the brothers’ legal team and other elected officials to help the plight of two brothers trying to keep each other alive, he said. He sent letters of support to the ICE agents when The Resurrection Project requested a humanitarian parole.
“This could’ve been a grave tragedy – one of loss,” Garcia said. “[But it wasn’t] because of the efforts of community members signing petitions, elected officials writing letters and organizations rallying around this humanitarian cause.”
Garcia said it is his hope that this will inspire the country about the realities of immigrants and the mistaken course that we’ve embarked on of mass deportations.
Father Charles Dahm, the co-founder of The Chicago Religious Task Force on Central America, said that detaining and deporting Gonzalez “doesn’t make sense.”
“This is an example of immigrants who are loving and compassionate and are tremendous additions to our community,” Dahm said. “So why do we not want them to be here?”
Erendira Rendon, the Vice President of Immigrant Justice at The Resurrection Project, voiced her gratitude towards community members and everyone involved in aiding Gonzalez’s release from ICE.
She said this case marks a victory and that when communities stand together, they can achieve justice that recognizes their fundamental humanity beyond immigration status.
“The power of community organizing has proven once again that we are not powerless, even in the most adverse circumstances,” said Rendon.
