A federal judge has ruled that the detention of a Chicago man by immigration authorities while his teenage daughter undergoes treatment for advanced cancer is unlawful. The court ordered that he must receive a bond hearing by October 31.
Ruben Torres Maldonado, 40, was taken into custody on October 18 as his deportation case moves through the U.S. immigration system. In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel found Torres’ detention to be illegal and a violation of his due process rights, though he stopped short of ordering his immediate release.
“While sympathetic to the plight the petitioner’s daughter faces due to her health concerns, the court must act within the constraints of the relevant statutes, rules, and precedents,” Judge Daniel wrote.
Torres’ attorney, Kalman Resnick, called the decision a step forward.
“We’re pleased that the judge ruled in our favour in determining that ICE is illegally detaining Ruben. We will now turn the fight to immigration court to secure his release on bond while he applies for permanent residence status,” Resnick said.
Torres, a painter and home renovator, was arrested at a suburban Home Depot store. His 16-year-old daughter, Ofelia Torres, was diagnosed last December with metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare and aggressive soft-tissue cancer. She has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation therapy.
According to court filings, Torres entered the United States in 2003 and lives with his partner, Sandibell Hidalgo, and their two children — both U.S. citizens, including a 4-year-old son.
In a video shared on a GoFundMe page, Ofelia expressed frustration at her father’s detention.
“My dad, like many other fathers, is a hard-working person who wakes up early and goes to work thinking about his family. I find it so unfair that hardworking immigrant families are being targeted just because they were not born here,” she said.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) claims Torres has been living in the country illegally and cited a record of driving-related offenses, including operating a vehicle without a valid license, without insurance, and speeding.
“This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to keep a criminal illegal alien in our country,” said Tricia McLaughlin, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary. “The Trump administration is fighting for the rule of law and the American people.”
At a hearing last Thursday, which Ofelia attended in a wheelchair, family attorneys argued that the teenager had just been released from the hospital the day before her father’s arrest. They said her ongoing treatment has since been disrupted due to the emotional strain caused by the detention.
Federal prosecutors countered that Torres had failed to cooperate during his arrest, which justified continued custody.
The case has drawn public outcry in the Chicago area, where local leaders and advocates condemned Torres’ arrest during a press conference on Wednesday. The region has recently become a focal point of a federal immigration operation known as “Operation Midway Blitz,” launched in early September.
The upcoming bond hearing will determine whether Torres can reunite with his family while his case proceeds.
