The urgent plea from the parents of an 18-year-old with terminal cancer in Mexico was answered Thursday when a federal judge in Arizona authorized their expedited deportation from the U.S. so they could reunite with their dying son.
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Kevin González has metastatic Stage 4 colon cancer and is currently under his grandmother’s care. Born in Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents, Kevin was diagnosed with the terminal disease in January.
His brother, Jovany RamĂrez, began caring for him in Chicago following the diagnosis. Their parents, Isidoro González AvilĂ©s and Norma Anabel RamĂrez Amaya, were living in Mexico at the time after being deported several years back.
After doctors told the family that Kevin stopped responding to treatment, his parents filed humanitarian requests asking to be allowed into the U.S. and be with their son, Virginia Amaya, Kevin’s grandmother, told Telemundo Chicago, which first reported the story.
When the parents’ petitions were denied, the parents crossed the border in a desperate attempt to reunite with their terminally ill son, Amaya said.
González AvilĂ©s, 48, and RamĂrez Amaya, 43, were taken into immigration custody on April 14 near Douglas, Arizona, and sent to a detention center.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told NBC Chicago in a statement on Wednesday that the parents “did not apply for humanitarian parole.” Instead, they applied for B1/B2 visitor visas, “which were denied due to their previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States.”
Following his parents’ detention, Kevin left Chicago and flew to Mexico; his health soon deteriorated and he hasn’t been allowed to fly. Kevin has hoped to reunite with his parents in his grandmother’s home.
His doctors in Chicago wrote letters calling for the “compassionate release” of González AvilĂ©s and RamĂrez Amaya so they could reunite with their sick son in Mexico. They recommended that Kevin “receive comfort care until the end of his life” with his family in Mexico.
“Sadly, Kevin is not expected to survive long,” the letter, which was obtained by Telemundo Chicago, reads.
According to court records obtained by NBC News, Isidoro González Avilés had been previously removed from the United States on January 2011 and had no legal authorization to come back into the U.S.
On Thursday he faced a crucial court hearing in Tucson, Arizona, where a federal judge was to decide if he would face criminal charges for illegal re-entry or if he would be repatriated to Mexico, according to Fernando Sánchez, the consul of Mexico in Tucson, who spoke to Telemundo Chicago on Wednesday.
During the hearing, González Avilés was crying as he asked the judge to send him to Mexico to be with his son.
The judge was moved, saying he was understanding of the situation since he also has children, and authorized his expedited deportation.
Both González AvilĂ©s and RamĂrez Amaya are expected to be removed to Mexico through the Nogales Port of Entry in Arizona later on Thursday, according to Telemundo Chicago. Immigration authorities had not confirmed an exact timeline for their deportation.
Susana Villalvazo, a spokesperson for the Consulate General of Mexico in Chicago, told NBC News in a statement Thursday afternoon that consulate officials in Tucson remained in close contact with the parents and their attorney “during today’s hearing and are currently coordinating with ICE authorities their expedite repatriation.”
The consulate of Mexico in Nogales and Mexican government officials in Durango will then coordinate the parents’ reunification with their son, Villalvazo said.
Since Kevin first spoke out Tuesday from Mexico pleading for his parents’ deportation, his health has deteriorated dramatically. He’s now unable to eat and drink water and can barely speak.
“My brother’s days are numbered. So, what he wanted was for my parents to be there,” Jovany RamĂrez told Telemundo Chicago.
RamĂrez said his brother barely sleeps anymore because “he is afraid he won’t wake up again.”
“That just breaks my heart, seeing how much he is suffering,” their grandmother told Telemundo Chicago.
