“Thank you for helping my family to be able to have the choice,” the teen said after he reunited with his parents.
DURANGO, Mexico — A Mexican couple who were detained for weeks at a Department of Homeland Security facility were released in time to reunite with their teenage son a day before he died of cancer.
Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya traveled to Durango, Mexico, to be with their son, Kevin González, on Saturday. The 18-year-old, a U.S. citizen who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, died on Sunday afternoon, according to CNN.
“I feel emotional, happy, and right now a bit sleepy, but everything is fine,” Kevin González told CNN. “I want to thank the entire world for their help.”
Kevin González was diagnosed after he fell ill in December. His parents, who are Mexican nationals, had previously been deported from the United States after entering illegally. They re-entered in April after applying for temporary non-immigrant visas so they could see their son; however, they were denied and detained.
DHS told CNN the couple’s visa applications were “were denied due to their previous unlawful presence and entries into the United States.”
They spent weeks in detention in Arizona before they were deported last week.
They took a bus to Durango, in northwest Mexico. Meanwhile, their son flew to Mexico a week ago, hoping to reunite with his parents before he died, according to CNN.
“What I want to say to people is thank you for helping my family to be able to have the choice,” the 18-year-old told CNN in Durango after reuniting with his parents.
“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,” said Avilés after reuniting with his son.