Kidney donors detained on ice before saving lives can have a transplant

Courtney Spinelli and Eli Ong

2 weeks ago

Berwin, Illinois (WGN) – Immigration rights activists, community members and elected officials are asking the US Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) to release detainees who are preparing to donate organs to save the lives of their brothers.

On Monday evening, an all-night stay was held for 43-year-old Jose Gregorio from Venezuela.

Gregorio was preparing to donate his kidneys to his sibling Jose Alfredo Pacheco, 37, who suffers from end-stage kidney disease. Pacheco said his brother was his surviving lifeline and the only family he is here to help him.

“It's literally a matter of life and death,” Resurrection Project's lawyer Peter Mayneck told Nexstar's WGN.

According to Meinecke, Pacheco came to the US in 2022 and applied for asylum, but is still pending. In 2023 he was given news that his kidneys had stopped functioning. He is currently undergoing dialysis treatment three days a week, four hours at a time, to stay alive.

If he leaves the country, Pacheco's asylum application would be void, his lawyer said.

Gregorio came to the country in 2023 shortly after his brother learned of his diagnosis, lawyers said. He brought the goal of helping his brother, and was initially denied entry to the tropical border.

He attempted again and was eventually released due to no deportation flights. He was allowed to come to the Chicago area under immigration oversight, his lawyer said. He has no criminal history and ICE has known his move ever since.

Earlier this month, ICE agents reportedly took Gregorio into custody at Cicero's home, where he lived with Pacheco.

“On March 3, I witnessed six ice agents ambushing two brothers just trying to reach dialysis appointments,” Leslie said with the Berwyn-Cicero Rapid Response team. “This is not about immigration policy or legal status. It's about family.”

Supporters of the Revival Project said Gregorio's main concern was long enough for immigration agents to consider his case. They submitted a removal stay to delay or prevent his deportation, which was denied on Monday.

Gregorio's lawyers plan to seek a review of the decision, but they are also asking immigration officers to consider releasing him on humanitarian parole so that he can stay in the United States for up to one year to complete a kidney transplant.

“It's very likely that relief in this case doesn't necessarily mean that Jose Gregorio is back, but that he's back,” Maineke said.

“[Gregorio] Tovia Siegel, director of organizing and leadership for the Resurrection Project, said, “He actually says he's willing to return to his home country after he's able to make a donation. He wants to do the ultimate act of love and generosity to literally give him a part of his body.”

Pacheco and Gregorio were scheduled to continue this month's medical appointments related to the UIC Medical Center port process.

According to supporters of the Resurrection Project, even if Gregorio was not an exact match for his brother, he could still donate his kidneys to save someone else. As part of the Kidney Swap Program, other people's families and best friends donated their kidneys in return, saving two lives in the process.

Proponents said Gregorio has no criminal history and is currently being held in a detention facility in Indiana. They started Online petition Hopefully they will appeal to the public for more help.

WGN contacted ICE for comment on the case and was told that the Privacy Act of 1974 prohibits federal agencies from sharing personal information about individuals without written consent, unless they comply with statutory exceptions.