A Venezuelan man who was briefly freed from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in the Chicago area has managed to donate his kidney to his brother, aiming to save his life.
ICE temporarily released José Gregorio González a Broadview facility in April.
ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch
His lawyer, Peter Meinecke, shared that González received a year-long supervised release to tend to his gravely ill sibling and potentially offer his kidney.
González faced detention by ICE earlier this year while he was with his brother, José Alfredo Pacheco, who was attending a dialysis session. Pacheco, residing in Cicero, was suffering from end-stage kidney failure and required a transplant.
The Resurrection Project, which represents González, announced that on Friday, González successfully donated his kidney to Pacheco during surgery at a hospital in the Chicago area.
“Today we celebrate not just a successful surgery, but the triumph of love and community over fear and cruelty,” expressed Erendira Rendón, Vice President of Immigrant Justice at The Resurrection Project, in a news release. “The fact that this feels like such an incredible victory speaks to how cruel our immigration system has become. Across the country, families are being torn apart as parents, caregivers, coaches, and partners are detained indiscriminately and jailed indefinitely in overcrowded facilities that put their mental and physical health at risk.”
The Resurrection Project says González does not have a criminal background.
González could still be deported in a year.
According to an April statement from ICE, “Jose Gregorio Gonzalez, 43, is a citizen of Venezuela ordered to be deported by an immigration judge… Gonzalez was arrested and placed in ICE custody on March 3 without incident. After providing the necessary documentation, ICE granted Gonzalez temporary release on humanitarian grounds.”
ABC News contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2025 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
