US teen with stage 4 cancer reunited with parents after visa denial and border arrest

An 18-year-old US citizen with terminal cancer was reunited with his deported parents in Mexico on Saturday after the couple spent weeks detained in the United States following an attempt to cross the border to see him.

Kevin González, who was raised in Mexico, was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer after becoming ill while visiting relatives in Chicago during the Christmas holidays, according to family members and officials, says CNN.

His parents, Isidoro González Avilés and Norma Anabel Ramírez Amaya, both Mexican nationals, had been deported from the United States in 2011. After learning of their son's diagnosis, they applied for temporary and humanitarian visas, but the requests were denied by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) because of their prior unlawful presence in the country.

The couple later attempted to re-enter the United States without authorisation and were arrested near Douglas, Arizona, on 14 April. They were held in a DHS detention facility for several weeks.

During their detention, Isidoro González Avilés said authorities treated them "like criminals," adding that they were chained at their hands and feet for court appearances.

A US district judge in Tucson ordered the couple's release on Thursday morning, and they were deported to Mexico the following day.

Kevin had travelled to Mexico about a week earlier in hopes of seeing his parents before his condition worsened.

The family reunited on Saturday evening in the northwestern Mexican state of Durango after the parents arrived by bus. Family members said the meeting was emotional, with Kevin's parents embracing their visibly weakened son in tears.

Isidoro González Avilés said the reunion fulfilled his son's wish and spoke of his faith in Kevin's strength, noting he has tattoos of both his son's name and Saint Jude, the patron saint of lost causes.

Kevin González thanked those who helped make the reunion possible and said he planned to celebrate Mother's Day by repeatedly hugging his mother.

DHS said the visa denials and the couple's prior removals followed standard immigration procedures. The department also said Isidoro González Avilés had previously been arrested and charged multiple times for offences ranging from minor to serious crimes, though it did not provide details about the allegations or their outcomes.

US Representative Delia Ramirez, whose district includes the Chicago hospital where Kevin received treatment, criticised the government's handling of the case.

"Rejecting visas to Kevin's family did not protect our communities," Ramirez said, describing the parents' detention as "inhumane."