Rigo Mendoza’s voice breaks when he remembers the final conversation he shared with his son, Kevin, just days before the boy’s death in early January. Kevin, only 15 years old and recently diagnosed with cancer, was not thinking about himself. His only concern was his father’s safety.
“He kept telling me, ‘I don’t want anything to happen to you,’” Mendoza recalls.
The family was already under immense strain. Just a day earlier, Kevin’s mother, Arlith Martínez, had been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). According to Mendoza, one of Kevin’s doctors later suggested that the shock and stress of his mother’s detention may have worsened the teenager’s fragile condition. Mendoza tried to shield his son from worry. “I told him not to get upset, that if he was okay, his mom would be okay too, and that we would fight to bring her home,” he says. But Kevin feared she might never return.
Martínez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico like her husband, was arrested on January 3 while commuting to work in Maryland. She was first held at a temporary facility before being transferred to a detention center in New Jersey. Hours later, she managed to contact Mendoza and tried to reassure him that she would be released because she had no serious criminal record.
CNN later confirmed that Martínez’s only offense was a traffic violation. Still, Mendoza says the way ICE agents surrounded her made it feel as though she were being treated like a dangerous criminal.
For more than two decades, Mendoza and Martínez had built a life in the United States, raising four children — all US citizens. Two days after Martínez was detained, Kevin died.
That loss changed everything. The couple is no longer fighting to stay in the United States. Instead, they have chosen to return to Mexico with their three surviving children and Kevin’s remains.
A Diagnosis That Changed Everything
Kevin’s health troubles began quietly in November, when he complained of knee pain. Doctors initially suggested ice and rest, but Mendoza felt something was wrong. He took his son to a hospital in Baltimore, where Kevin was diagnosed with cancer.
From that moment, the family’s routine disappeared. Mendoza and Martínez had both been working at a fast-food restaurant, but Mendoza quit almost immediately to care for his son full-time. “I told my wife my child was more important than anything,” he says. Martínez became the sole breadwinner while Mendoza focused on Kevin’s treatments.
Doctors encouraged the family, telling them Kevin was fighting hard and that his illness was a battle he could win. Mendoza says he didn’t even want to know the exact type of cancer — hearing the word alone was devastating enough.
After Martínez’s arrest, Mendoza tried to keep the news from Kevin. But the information spread through social media, and Kevin learned what had happened. That same night, his condition worsened. By early morning, Mendoza noticed his son was sweating and growing weaker.
Kevin was taken to a local hospital, where doctors attempted to transfer him by helicopter to another facility. The effort failed because of his critical condition. Shortly before, Kevin asked his father whether he would travel by helicopter or by car, worried once again about Mendoza’s safety.
Those were his final words. Kevin died on January 5.
Grief, Detention, and a Final Goodbye
Mendoza informed his lawyers immediately and asked federal authorities to allow Martínez to attend her son’s funeral. The only option offered, he says, was a two-hour supervised release before returning her to detention. The family refused, unable to bear that image, and postponed the funeral.
ICE later stated that Martínez had previously been deported three times and was awaiting further proceedings. She was eventually released on January 29 after posting $12,000 bail and being fitted with an ankle monitor. She was able to attend a private funeral for Kevin soon after.
Her attorneys say they challenged her detention and are now awaiting a deportation hearing, with the case being transferred from New Jersey to Maryland. For now, voluntary departure remains her most immediate option.
With his wife’s detention and his son’s death, Mendoza says the decision to leave the US became unavoidable. He wants Kevin laid to rest in Mexico, where he can visit his grave one day. “I can’t leave him here when I’m not from here,” he says.
The Mexican Embassy in Washington has provided legal and financial assistance to help the family return home and transport Kevin’s remains. Local schools, friends, and relatives have also offered support.
“I always dreamed of going back to my country,” Mendoza says quietly. “Just not like this.”
As immigration enforcement intensifies across the country, Mendoza believes his family’s tragedy is not unique. “Every day, another family suffers,” he says. Now, his focus is solely on his three children. “I try to be strong for them. They loved their little brother so much.”
