BERWYN, Ill. (WLS) — ABC7 has learned a man who was detained by ICE in the Chicago area before a life-saving kidney transplant is likely going to be released.
Jose Gregorio Gonzalez was detained in Berwyn last month as he was preparing to give his kidney to his brother. Now those plans could be moving forward again.
ABC7 was told the man in ICE custody is currently in a west-central Indiana jail, but he could be released as early as Friday in order to be an organ donor.
The group The Resurrection Project has been representing Gonzalez since his detainment last month.
The group said his brother, Jose Alfredo Pacheco, has end-stage kidney failure and needs a kidney transplant.
Supporters said a year ago, that detained brother sought asylum in the United States from Venezuela with the goal of donating his kidney and was allowed, up until last month, to care for his brother in Cicero, while under an order of supervision, which required him to wear an ankle monitor.
It still hasn’t been determined whether Gonzalez is an organ donor match, but the Resurrection Project said even if he isn’t, he can still donate to another patient and secure a transplant for his brother through a paired kidney exchange.
“This is literally a matter of one, of brotherly love, of someone trying to save his brother’s life, and so I think it’s fair that he be given the opportunity to do that,” said Peter Meinecke, Senior Staff Attorney at The Resurrection Project.
“His primary goal isn’t to stay permanently in the United States, but to be able to follow through with the organ transplant,” said Tovia Siegel, Director of Organizing and Leadership at The Resurrection Project.
The Resurrection Project said its been told by an ICE official that Gonzalez could be transferred from Indiana to the Chicago ICE field office as early as Friday and released under conditions.
Messages left for an ICE spokesperson by ABC7 were not returned.
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