The parents of 18-year-old U.S. citizen Kevin González, who has been diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, reunited with their son in Durango, Mexico after being released from DHS detention in Arizona. The couple were arrested April 14 near Douglas after attempting to reenter the U.S., spent weeks in custody and were deported before a federal judge ordered their release. DHS said prior removals and unlawful presence prompted visa denials; the family says humanitarian requests were rejected. Representative Delia Ramirez condemned the lengthy detentions as harmful to families.
Parents Freed From DHS Detention Reunite With 18-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Dying of Cancer
Kevin González, 18, with his parents. - CNN
The parents of 18-year-old U.S. citizen Kevin González were reunited with their son Saturday evening in Durango, Mexico, a day after they were released from a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) detention facility in Arizona.
Kevin, who was born in the United States and raised in Mexico, fell ill while visiting family in Chicago over the Christmas holiday and was later diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, according to CNN affiliate WLS. Hoping to be with his parents before his condition worsened, Kevin flew to Mexico about a week before the reunion.
His parents, Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, were arrested near Douglas, Arizona, on April 14 after attempting to reenter the U.S., DHS said. The couple say they spent weeks in detention before being deported to Mexico on Friday; a U.S. district judge in Tucson ordered their release on Thursday, WLS reported.
DHS told CNN the pair had prior removals and that their applications for B1/B2 visitor visas were denied because of previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States. DHS also said Avilés had been arrested and charged multiple times over the years, with offenses ranging from minor to serious, and that Anabel Ramírez Amaya first entered the U.S. in 2005 and was removed in 2011. DHS did not provide details on the timing, locations, or outcomes of those alleged charges.
Kevin González's mother called her son the "best gift." - CNN
Avilés and Ramírez Amaya described harsh treatment in custody. Avilés said the couple were treated "like criminals," were chained at the hands and feet for court appearances, and that humanitarian visa requests to see their ill son were denied. DHS declined to comment beyond its public statements about prior removals and visa denials.
After the emotional reunion in Durango, Avilés said: "We managed to make my son's dream come true: to be with him again, to love him, to give him the love we could not give him during these months when he was not with us." He showed tattoos of his son's name and of Saint Jude, a figure often associated with desperate situations.
“What I want to say to people is thank you for helping my family to be able to have the choice,” Kevin told CNN in Durango shortly after the reunion.
Representative Delia Ramirez, whose district includes the Chicago hospital where Kevin is receiving treatment, criticized the denials and prolonged detentions in a statement: "Rejecting visas to Kevin's family did not protect our communities. Putting families through the pain, stress, and fear of separation is not making our loved ones safer. Detaining immigrants for months in for-profit, inhumane detentions is not securing our nation."
Kevin said he planned to celebrate Mother’s Day by giving his mother "lots of hugs, over and over." The reunion marks a private, painful moment for the family amid ongoing questions about U.S. immigration enforcement, humanitarian exceptions and how agencies handle urgent family medical circumstances.
Reporting contributed by Ever Hernandez and CNN's José Álvarez, Graham Hurley, and Sarah Dewberry.
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