Latest news with #ResurrectionProject
Axios
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Chicago braces for fallout as SCOTUS lets migrant protections end
The U.S. Supreme Court paved the way Friday for the Trump administration to rescind a Biden-era order that granted temporary protections for more than 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Why it matters: The court decision will affect thousands of migrants who were bused to Chicago before July 2023 and comes after a different ruling earlier this month allowed the administration to revoke protection for 350,000 Venezuelan nationals. Zoom in: Officials estimated that since 2022, the city has welcomed over 50,000 migrants from the southern border. 30,000 of those are from Venezuela. The big picture: The city and state shelled out millions of dollars to house Venezuelan migrants, which caused tensions between alders, communities and neighbors. Flashback: Expanding who qualified for temporary protections was one of several requests politicians in blue states made to the Biden administration so migrants in shelters could start working sooner. Congress created Temporary Protection Status in 1990 to offer protections to migrants fleeing natural disasters or war in their home countries. The protections typically last two years at a time, though the federal government has authorized TPS holders from various countries to renew their protections several times. What they're saying:"Without Temporary Protected Status, if somebody never applied for asylum, they are in fact eligible for deportation, and they're at risk for deportation," the Resurrection Project's Erendira Rendon told CBS Chicago. The intrigue: The court's Friday ruling was unsigned, which usually happens when justices rule on emergency cases. It also means legal challenges to the reversal can continue in lower courts and possibly end up in front of the Supreme Court again. White House officials have said migrants are a public safety threat and a drain on the nation's resources. Between the lines: This ruling comes as the Department of Homeland Security released a notice identifying hundreds of municipalities nationwide that have some sanctuary policy in place.
CBS News
20-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Thousands of Venezuelans in Chicago face deportation after Supreme Court allows Trump administration to end TPS program
Thousands of Venezuelan migrants living in Chicago could soon face deportation, after the Supreme Court ruled this week that the Trump administration can revoke Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have been in the U.S. for years. Temporary Protected Status allows migrants to live and work in the U.S. without the threat of deportation, although it does not provide a path to permanent residency or citizenship. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tried to terminate the TPS program for Venezuelans in February, but the move was previously blocked by a lower court. On Monday, the Supreme Court granted the Trump administration's request to lift the lower court's injunction. That could impact thousands of Venezuelan immigrants living in Chicago. "Every single person that we helped apply – because we helped them in 2023 – is going to be impacted by this," said Erendira Rendon, vice president for immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project, which has helped 9,000 Venezuelans in Illinois apply for TPS and asylum status. "Without Temporary Protected Status, if somebody never applied for asylum, they are in fact eligible for deportation, and they're at risk for deportation." Since Aug. 31, 2022, Chicago officials estimated the city has welcomed approximately 51,000 migrants from the southern border. A study done by Northeastern University last fall estimated about 30,000 of those people are from Venezuela, and have settled in neighborhoods like Brighton Park. "Right now, it seems like a rollercoaster because of all the changes," said Ana Alejandre, a shelter-based care manager at Brighton Park Neighborhood Council. The council has helped new arrivals find a home in Chicago. Thanks to the TPS program, they said those same immigrants have been able to get jobs to pay rent and pay taxes. "All of us that work and contribute to this country, we all get taxes deducted. Undocumented people, they also get taxes deducted, Social Security," Alejandre said. For many Venezuelans, the fear is now overwhelming that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement could use details from TPS applications to find people now eligible for deportation. "Retaliation. Coming and looking for them, knowing where they live, where they work," Alejandere said. It's not clear when TPS for Venezuelans will be terminated and deportation efforts could begin.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
A Venezuelan man who wants to donate a kidney to his brother faced deportation. ICE has temporarily released him
A Venezuelan man who came to the US to donate a kidney to his brother learned this week he'd be deported, prompting desperate pleas for him to be released from immigration custody on humanitarian grounds. Days later, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez was granted a reprieve from deportation, an advocate said. Though temporary, the reprieve means Gonzalez can continue to help his brother, Jose Alfredo Pacheco, by driving him to dialysis and, possibly, becoming a kidney donor. Pacheco immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 2022 seeking asylum, said Tovia Siegel, director of organizing and leadership for immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project. His case, filed in 2023, is still pending. He began experiencing abdominal pain that year, after arriving in the Chicago area. Pacheco, 37, sought treatment at a local hospital and was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, Siegel said. Gonzalez, 43, learned of his brother's diagnosis and came to the United States at the end of 2023. He presented himself at the border on two occasions: On his first attempt, he did not pass a credible fear interview and was denied entry. On his second try, he used an app created by Customs and Border Protection which, during the Biden administration, allowed asylum seekers to schedule interviews at the border. 'Because he had a prior removal order, at that point, he was detained,' Siegel told CNN. He was released several months later on an order of supervision because Venezuela was not accepting deportation flights at the time, Siegel said. The order required him to make regular check-ins with immigration authorities and to wear an ankle monitor, but it enabled him to live with and care for his brother over the past year. 'Through that time, they were undergoing the necessary tests to determine that Jose could donate his kidney to Alfredo,' Siegel said. They were preparing for the possibility of an operation when ICE agents showed up March 3 at the Cicero, Illinois, home where the brothers lived, Siegel said. They took Gonzalez into custody. Monday, a judge denied Gonzalez's stay of removal, making his brother and immigration advocates at the Chicago-based Resurrection Project fear his deportation was imminent. But Wednesday, his attorney received word that ICE would grant Gonzalez humanitarian parole, allowing him to temporarily stay in the United States to continue caring for Pacheco – and possibly make the life-saving organ donation. His release is likely to happen this Friday, Siegel said. ICE has not yet specified the terms of his release, she added. CNN has reached out to ICE for comment on Gonzalez's detainment and anticipated release. At a vigil Monday night calling for Gonzalez's release, before ICE granted the humanitarian parole, Pacheco told the crowd he requires a four-hour dialysis three times a week to survive without a transplant. 'It's extremely difficult – sometimes, I can barely get out of bed,' he said in Spanish. 'My brother is a good man. … He came only with the hope of donating his kidney to me.' Since the beginning of March when Gonzalez was detained, Pacheco has been shouldering the burden of his diagnosis alone. 'He's tired, he's nauseous, and because he has not had his brother here, he's had to drive himself to and from appointments,' Siegel said. 'So aside from the incredible emotional pain of the family separation and detention, there have also been really significant practical struggles for Alfredo.' As of April 1, more than 90,000 people in the United States are on the kidney transplant waiting list, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Through February of this year, the most recent data available, fewer than 4,500 people had received a transplant, the organization's data shows. And just 1,000 of those donations came from living donors. When Gonzalez is released, the brothers plan to resume the process of determining whether they are compatible for the transplant. If they are not, they will participate in a program called a 'paired kidney exchange,' which connects one or more pairs of compatible donors and recipients. 'What's pretty amazing about it is it actually means that by donating his kidney, Jose Gregorio would actually save two people's lives,' Siegel said, 'because there would be two people in need of transplants who would receive them.'
CNN
03-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
A Venezuelan man who wants to donate a kidney to his brother faced deportation. ICE has temporarily released him
A Venezuelan man who came to the US to donate a kidney to his brother learned this week he'd be deported, prompting desperate pleas for him to be released from immigration custody on humanitarian grounds. Days later, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez was granted a reprieve from deportation, an advocate said. Though temporary, the reprieve means Gonzalez can continue to help his brother, Jose Alfredo Pacheco, by driving him to dialysis and, possibly, becoming a kidney donor. Pacheco immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 2022 seeking asylum, said Tovia Siegel, director of organizing and leadership for immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project. His case, filed in 2023, is still pending. He began experiencing abdominal pain that year, after arriving in the Chicago area. Pacheco, 37, sought treatment at a local hospital and was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, Siegel said. Gonzalez, 43, learned of his brother's diagnosis and came to the United States at the end of 2023. He presented himself at the border on two occasions: On his first attempt, he did not pass a credible fear interview and was denied entry. On his second try, he used an app created by Customs and Border Protection which, during the Biden administration, allowed asylum seekers to schedule interviews at the border. 'Because he had a prior removal order, at that point, he was detained,' Siegel told CNN. He was released several months later on an order of supervision because Venezuela was not accepting deportation flights at the time, Siegel said. The order required him to make regular check-ins with immigration authorities and to wear an ankle monitor, but it enabled him to live with and care for his brother over the past year. 'Through that time, they were undergoing the necessary tests to determine that Jose could donate his kidney to Alfredo,' Siegel said. They were preparing for the possibility of an operation when ICE agents showed up March 3 at the Cicero, Illinois, home where the brothers lived, Siegel said. They took Gonzalez into custody. Monday, a judge denied Gonzalez's stay of removal, making his brother and immigration advocates at the Chicago-based Resurrection Project fear his deportation was imminent. But Wednesday, his attorney received word that ICE would grant Gonzalez humanitarian parole, allowing him to temporarily stay in the United States to continue caring for Pacheco – and possibly make the life-saving organ donation. His release is likely to happen this Friday, Siegel said. ICE has not yet specified the terms of his release, she added. CNN has reached out to ICE for comment on Gonzalez's detainment and anticipated release. At a vigil Monday night calling for Gonzalez's release, before ICE granted the humanitarian parole, Pacheco told the crowd he requires a four-hour dialysis three times a week to survive without a transplant. 'It's extremely difficult – sometimes, I can barely get out of bed,' he said in Spanish. 'My brother is a good man. … He came only with the hope of donating his kidney to me.' Since the beginning of March when Gonzalez was detained, Pacheco has been shouldering the burden of his diagnosis alone. 'He's tired, he's nauseous, and because he has not had his brother here, he's had to drive himself to and from appointments,' Siegel said. 'So aside from the incredible emotional pain of the family separation and detention, there have also been really significant practical struggles for Alfredo.' As of April 1, more than 90,000 people in the United States are on the kidney transplant waiting list, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Through February of this year, the most recent data available, fewer than 4,500 people had received a transplant, the organization's data shows. And just 1,000 of those donations came from living donors. When Gonzalez is released, the brothers plan to resume the process of determining whether they are compatible for the transplant. If they are not, they will participate in a program called a 'paired kidney exchange,' which connects one or more pairs of compatible donors and recipients. 'What's pretty amazing about it is it actually means that by donating his kidney, Jose Gregorio would actually save two people's lives,' Siegel said, 'because there would be two people in need of transplants who would receive them.'
CNN
03-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
A Venezuelan man who wants to donate a kidney to his brother faced deportation. ICE has temporarily released him
A Venezuelan man who came to the US to donate a kidney to his brother learned this week he'd be deported, prompting desperate pleas for him to be released from immigration custody on humanitarian grounds. Days later, Jose Gregorio Gonzalez was granted a reprieve from deportation, an advocate said. Though temporary, the reprieve means Gonzalez can continue to help his brother, Jose Alfredo Pacheco, by driving him to dialysis and, possibly, becoming a kidney donor. Pacheco immigrated to the United States from Venezuela in 2022 seeking asylum, said Tovia Siegel, director of organizing and leadership for immigrant justice at the Resurrection Project. His case, filed in 2023, is still pending. He began experiencing abdominal pain that year, after arriving in the Chicago area. Pacheco, 37, sought treatment at a local hospital and was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease, or kidney failure, Siegel said. Gonzalez, 43, learned of his brother's diagnosis and came to the United States at the end of 2023. He presented himself at the border on two occasions: On his first attempt, he did not pass a credible fear interview and was denied entry. On his second try, he used an app created by Customs and Border Protection which, during the Biden administration, allowed asylum seekers to schedule interviews at the border. 'Because he had a prior removal order, at that point, he was detained,' Siegel told CNN. He was released several months later on an order of supervision because Venezuela was not accepting deportation flights at the time, Siegel said. The order required him to make regular check-ins with immigration authorities and to wear an ankle monitor, but it enabled him to live with and care for his brother over the past year. 'Through that time, they were undergoing the necessary tests to determine that Jose could donate his kidney to Alfredo,' Siegel said. They were preparing for the possibility of an operation when ICE agents showed up March 3 at the Cicero, Illinois, home where the brothers lived, Siegel said. They took Gonzalez into custody. Monday, a judge denied Gonzalez's stay of removal, making his brother and immigration advocates at the Chicago-based Resurrection Project fear his deportation was imminent. But Wednesday, his attorney received word that ICE would grant Gonzalez humanitarian parole, allowing him to temporarily stay in the United States to continue caring for Pacheco – and possibly make the life-saving organ donation. His release is likely to happen this Friday, Siegel said. ICE has not yet specified the terms of his release, she added. CNN has reached out to ICE for comment on Gonzalez's detainment and anticipated release. At a vigil Monday night calling for Gonzalez's release, before ICE granted the humanitarian parole, Pacheco told the crowd he requires a four-hour dialysis three times a week to survive without a transplant. 'It's extremely difficult – sometimes, I can barely get out of bed,' he said in Spanish. 'My brother is a good man. … He came only with the hope of donating his kidney to me.' Since the beginning of March when Gonzalez was detained, Pacheco has been shouldering the burden of his diagnosis alone. 'He's tired, he's nauseous, and because he has not had his brother here, he's had to drive himself to and from appointments,' Siegel said. 'So aside from the incredible emotional pain of the family separation and detention, there have also been really significant practical struggles for Alfredo.' As of April 1, more than 90,000 people in the United States are on the kidney transplant waiting list, according to the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. Through February of this year, the most recent data available, fewer than 4,500 people had received a transplant, the organization's data shows. And just 1,000 of those donations came from living donors. When Gonzalez is released, the brothers plan to resume the process of determining whether they are compatible for the transplant. If they are not, they will participate in a program called a 'paired kidney exchange,' which connects one or more pairs of compatible donors and recipients. 'What's pretty amazing about it is it actually means that by donating his kidney, Jose Gregorio would actually save two people's lives,' Siegel said, 'because there would be two people in need of transplants who would receive them.'
