José Gregorio González, the Venezuelan migrant who donated a kidney to save his brother’s life, is back in immigration custody. Agents grabbed him on July 21, 2026, during a routine monthly check-in in the Chicago area. He is now held at the Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri.
The message he sent his brother minutes before agents took him: “Hermano, te amo. Ya me van a deportar.” Brother, I love you. They’re about to deport me.
José Alfredo Pacheco, the recipient, has told family and advocates the same plain request the system keeps rejecting: give them time to recover from the transplant. Then González will leave. Doctors have already said the donor and recipient both need proper rehabilitation and monitoring. Post-surgery complications have hit Pacheco hard—hospitalizations, a fungal blood infection linked to Chicago’s humid conditions, ongoing medical fragility. Removing the only family member in the country who can care for him is not a bureaucratic detail. It is a direct threat to the transplant’s success.
The Record
Pacheco was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease in early 2024. González came from Venezuela specifically to support him and become the living donor. In March 2025, ICE arrested González while he was with his brother around a dialysis appointment. After public pressure, including from Illinois senators and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García, ICE granted one-year humanitarian parole on April 4, 2025. The transplant surgery took place at University of Illinois Hospital on August 14–15, 2025.
The parole expired in March 2026. Attorney Peter Meinecke of The Resurrection Project sought an extension so both brothers could finish recovering. ICE denied the stay of removal on June 23, 2026. On July 21 agents detained González at the check-in. He has no criminal record. The only “offense” is the outstanding removal order that existed before the transplant.
Pacheco’s response has been consistent: his brother’s love has been unconditional. “I just don’t understand why they treat us this way, as if we weren’t human. Not considering our health at all.” He has said they only ask for enough time for both to stabilize, after which González will self-deport.
Material Reality
This is not an edge case. It is the enforcement machine operating as designed. A living kidney donor who already completed the surgery under supervised release is pulled back into detention at a county jail contracted to hold ICE detainees. The brothers are the only family each other has in the United States. Pacheco still requires care. González still requires post-donation recovery. The state’s priority remains the removal order over the medical facts on the ground.
Greene County Jail in Springfield, Missouri, is one more local facility monetizing federal immigration detention. The human cost is measured in interrupted recovery, risk of transplant failure, and a man who already gave an organ being told his presence is no longer tolerated.
Advocates and the family are seeking renewed humanitarian consideration so the brothers can finish healing. The public record is clear: the transplant happened, complications continue, and the only request on the table is time.
Sources: Chicago Tribune (July 29, 2026 reporting), ABC7 Chicago, Univision coverage of the July 21 detention and the brothers’ statements, prior 2025 reporting on the original arrest, parole, and August 2025 transplant.
Citation links from the reporting used:
Primary recent coverage (July 2026 re-detention):
Background / 2025 original detention, release, and transplant:
