An 18-year-old Chicago native battling terminal cancer is making an emotional plea from his bed in Durango, Mexico: he wants to see his parents one last time.<\/p>\n
Kevin Gonzalez, who is suffering from stage four colon cancer, spoke with Telemundo Chicago crews while surrounded by family. Missing in the room, his mother and father; who remain in federal immigration custody in Arizona.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to see my parents, even if it\u2019s for the last time,\u201d Kevin Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n
Doctors have told Kevin that treatment is no longer an option. According to his grandmother, the cancer has spread to his stomach and lungs, leaving him unable to sleep or eat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has terminal colon cancer,\u201d said Virginia Amaya, Kevin\u2019s grandmother. \u201cIt has invaded his stomach and lungs. He doesn\u2019t sleep. He doesn\u2019t eat.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin was diagnosed in January, but relatives say the disease progressed rapidly.<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s parents were both deported in 2011. His mother, Anabel, allegedly reentered the United States illegally in 2024 and was deported again later that year.<\/p>\n
While Kevin remained in Chicago with his grandmother, his parents continued living in Mexico. Kevin was born in the United States and is a U.S. Citizen.<\/p>\n
After learning of their son\u2019s terminal diagnosis, both parents reportedly attempted to return to the United States earlier this year, seeking what the family described as a humanitarian exception so they could be with Kevin.<\/p>\n
According to federal officials, their request was denied. Authorities say the couple later attempted to cross the border illegally and were detained in Douglas, Arizona.<\/p>\n
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement: \u201cThese illegal aliens did not apply for humanitarian parole. They applied for B1\/B2 visas which were denied due to their previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin\u2019s parents are scheduled to appear before an immigration judge Thursday morning, in Arizona.<\/p>\n
The Mexican Consulate in Arizona has become involved in the case, urging U.S. authorities to consider the family\u2019s circumstances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is the American authorities are going to manage the case,\u201d said Fernando Sanchez, the Mexican consul in Tucson. \u201cWe cannot tell them what to do, but we are absolutely asking the judge to consider the situation the family is in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawmakers in Washington, including Texas Congressman Joaquin Castro, are also reportedly advocating on the family\u2019s behalf.<\/p>\n
If the judge orders deportation, Kevin\u2019s parents could potentially reunite with their son in Mexico. They would be released from Custody and transferred to Nogales. If they face federal immigration charges, they could remain detained in the United States.<\/p>\n
For Kevin, the request remains painfully simple.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m asking you to do whatever you can to release them,\u201d he said. \u201cI just want to spend my last days with them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An 18-year-old Chicago native battling terminal cancer is making an emotional plea from his bed in Durango, Mexico:…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":778658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818,409],"class_list":{"0":"post-778657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-immigration"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116531021193173450","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}