Advocacy and Suffering

Kevin González, a U.S. citizen born in Chicago but raised in Mexico, was diagnosed with metastatic stage four colon cancer in January. His parents, Isidro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Arizona in mid-April after crossing the U.S. border without authorization in a final attempt to see their son.

Kevin had traveled to Mexico to be with family as his health declined and had publicly pleaded for his parents to be released from ICE custody so they could be with him in his final days. The parents were eventually released by a federal judge on Thursday, according to the Spanish-language U.S. news network Telemundo. They reunited with Kevin at his maternal grandmother’s house in Durango, Mexico, on Saturday afternoon.

Kevin’s brother, Jovany Ramírez, and an aunt told Telemundo that he passed away late Sunday afternoon. His father, Isidro González Avilés, was captured on video kneeling at Kevin’s feet during his final moments, asking for forgiveness if he had ever let him down and telling him he loved him very much.

Political and Immigration Context

Democratic U.S. congressman Jesús “Chuy” García of Chicago issued a statement Sunday expressing that the Gonzalezes “should have had more time together.” García, who was born in Durango before moving to the U.S., pledged to “honor Kevin and his family by vowing to continue fighting for a humane immigration system that treats everyone with dignity.”

Kevin’s parents had previously been denied entry into the U.S. by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) due to “previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States,” according to ICE records. When they attempted to cross into the U.S. again, ICE arrested the two near Douglas, Arizona, on April 14 and sent them to a detention center. The arrests took place amid a broader immigration enforcement campaign led by ICE following the start of Donald Trump’s second presidency in early 2025.

A doctor treating Kevin at the University of Chicago medical center issued a 28 April document requesting a “compassionate release” for at least his mother, Ramírez Amaya, so she could be with Kevin, who was “not expected to survive long.” Kevin later appeared in a Telemundo story published on May 6, urging that “everything possible be done” for his parents to be released so he could spend his final days with them.

Final Days and Broader Implications

On May 7, a U.S. district judge in Tucson, Arizona, ordered Kevin’s parents to be released from custody and for their deportations to be expedited. They were deported to Mexico on Friday and arrived in time to see Kevin one last time on Saturday, a day before his death.

Ramírez Amaya, upon reuniting with Kevin, told Telemundo it was emotionally grueling to see her son in such a deteriorated condition. “I never imagined seeing him like this – no,” she said, weeping. “It’s very sad.”

Kevin’s case echoes that of Ofelia Torres, a 16-year-old Chicago girl who died in February from cancer after advocating for her father’s release from ICE custody. These cases have drawn attention to the human toll of the Trump administration’s immigration policies.