DHS: Kidney recipient arrested by federal agents in Rochester has access to needed medications
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Updated 5:08 p.m.
A man taken into custody in Rochester Thursday by federal immigration agents is a kidney transplant recipient who did not have his life-saving medication when he was initially arrested.
The Department of Homeland Security says the man, Javier Abreu-Vasquez, now has access to those medications, although his family not has been able to confirm that.
State Rep. Kim Hicks, DFL-Rochester, said a lawyer for the man was told Friday morning that Abreu-Vasquez would need a doctor’s note to be able to access the anti-rejection medication vital to his transplant.
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She drove to the Twin Cities Thursday night to deliver the medication to Abreu-Vasquez at the Whipple Federal Building where he was being held. After conferring with his attorney this morning, she got a letter from his Mayo Clinic doctor.
She said she was concerned, though, because she hadn’t heard from federal officials as of Friday afternoon — after Abreu-Vasquez was scheduled to be transported by flight to a federal detention center in Texas.
By late Friday afternoon, the Department of Homeland Security said ICE was working with the family to ensure Abreu-Vasquez gets all of his needed medications.
— Molly Castle Work, MPR News
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