Donald Trump and his administration are under fire for arresting an organ donor. The ICE recently arrested a Venezuelan national who had flown to the US to donate a kidney to his brother. José Gregorio González’s arrest has left community members agitated enough to start rallying in support of the brothers.
The Trump administration has been criticized for its aggressive deportation process time and time again. More than 300 international students were deported for engaging in “activities in support of Hamas.” People expressed their disagreement with the Department of Homeland Security for deporting them without sufficient evidence.
Donald Trump had set his agenda to rid the country of illegal immigrants since his second term in office began. The President signed an executive order that dealt with the same. He has previously spoken about how illegal immigrants “undermine public safety” and “place enormous strain” on resources.
ICE has been arresting people off the streets left and right and placing them in cells while they wait for their impending deportation. One such case is of a Venezuelan man named José Gregorio González.
González’s brother José Alfredo Pacheco was diagnosed with late-stage kidney failure. Pacheco, who is a resident of Chicago, had come to the United States to seek asylum after fleeing from Venezuela.
José Gregorio González flew into the USA to donate his kidney to his brother required a kidney transplant. The Venezuelan national was taken into custody and detained soon after he reached America. According to the Chicago Tribune, the González was arrested in his brother’s home while he was in the middle of making breakfast.
CICERO, Illinois — For months, José Gregorio González has been accompanying his brother, José Alfredo Pacheco, to the thrice-weekly 4 a.m. dialysis treatments keeping Pacheco alive.
This is what Love is been built on ❣️ pic.twitter.com/Kwcbxl91It
— BM Media (@ByteMagnet) April 2, 2025
“We both cried when they arrested him because we both know he is my lifeline,” Pacheco recalled the incident. The Venezuelan citizen was detained at an Indiana detention center but is in the process of being transferred.
He has also asked for a “humanitarian parole” so he can donate his kidney to Pacheco before he is deported. “After that, I will return to Venezuela,” González stated in his interview with the newspaper.
If Pacheco fails to receive a kidney from his brother, he could have to wait up to 5 years to secure another one, according to NBC News.
Erendira Rendón, who works for The Resurrection Project, noted how González’s getting a parole has become a matter of “life or death.” The Resurrection Project is a nonprofit organisation based out of Chicago that is helping that is representing the Venezuelan national.
Several people in the Chicago community are rallying to support the brothers and to seek justice. This isn’t the first incident of an unjust deportation causing unrest. JD Vance recently accused a man from El Salvador of being a gang member to justify his deportation.
The Vice President was blasted for accusing the man without providing evidence to support his claims. The Republican took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to label the man as an “MS-13 gang member.”
My comment is that according to the court document you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here.
My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize. https://t.co/cPnloeyXYk
— JD Vance (@JDVance) April 1, 2025
Kilmar Amrado Abrego-Garcia was arrested by ICE and swiftly deported. The Maryland resident is married to a US National and is even a father to a 5-year-old boy.
Even Trump’s Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt accused Abrego-Gracia of being a gang member. She labelled the Maryland resident as “a member of the brutal and vicious MS-13 gang.” Abrego-Garcia’s deportation was written off as an “administrative error” in the end.
The US government left a lot of room for error and none for rectification. The administration stated that nothing could be done to change the situation because they did not possess custody of Abrego-Garcia post his deportation.
