Kevin Gonzalez has been fighting terminal stage 4 colon cancer. His parents had been detained in Arizona. They are now all traveling to Mexico to reunite.
Thursday was a good day for Gonzalez, and while it is getting harder for him to speak, he recorded a message from his grandmother's home in Durango, Mexico.
"I have no words. Just thank you," Gonzalez said in Spanish.
The thank you message was for the U.S District Judge in Tucson, Arizona, who Thursday morning ordered the release of Gonzalez 's Parents. The couple was arrested trying to cross the border illegally last month in a desperate attempt to get to Chicago, where their 18-year-old son lay dying from stage 4 colon cancer at the University of Chicago Medical Center. His brother Jovany Ramirez has been taking care of him in their absence.
"I'm very happy" Ramirez said. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."
Gonzalez, who was born in Chicago but had been living in Mexico with his parents, fell ill while visiting his brother in Chicago over the Christmas holidays. When the terminal diagnosis came, his mother told ABC7 she and her husband applied for emergency visas. They were denied, because both had been previously deported.
Knowing he might just have days left to live and wanting to hold his mother and father one last time, Gonzalez checked himself out of the hospital last week and flew to his grandmother's home in Mexico. He hoped that his parents would be released from custody and deported in time for him to say goodbye. Until Thursday, it was not clear that would happen.
"We've been taking care of him in his mother's absence" Gonzalez's grandmother Virginia Amaya said in Spanish.
Amaya admits this is a very difficult situation but is looking forward to his parents coming home so they can hug him and tell him them love him one more time.
Gonzalez's brother in Chicago told ABC7 his parents are being escorted by ICE to the border. That is where consulate officials will help them board a bus, and then an emergency flight that's been arranged for them to get home as quickly as possible.
The family hopes to reunite Friday morning, ABC7 was told.
A spokesperson for the Mexican Consulate in Chicago shared the following statement on Wednesday:
"The case has been closely monitored through our Consular Protection Department. However, it should be noted that, due to the location of the facility where our nationals are detained, direct consular assistance falls under the jurisdiction of the Consulate of Mexico in Tucson, which oversees that region. They are already in contact with the attorney representing Kevin's parents and following up to further assist them in the repatriation process.
"This Consulate General remains in constant communication and coordination with our colleagues in Tucson to continue providing consular protection to the family."