Following widespread demands for his release, a Mexican immigrant whose teenage daughter is battling a rare form of cancer was ordered released on bond from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Thursday.
Ruben Torres Maldonado, who has lived in the U.S. for nearly 23 years and has only traffic violations on his record, was detained by ICE and held for weeks at the suburban Broadview processing facility and an Indiana jail, according to his attorneys. At a bond hearing Thursday, Immigration Judge Eva Saltzman ruled that Maldonado poses no threat to the community and ordered him released on a $2,000 bond, which his family paid.
Maldonado’s 16-year-old daughter Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo was diagnosed with metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer, in December 2024. The cancer has progressed to stage 4 and Ofelia underwent chemotherapy treatments earlier this year, but her chemo appointments were paused after her father was detained, according to Maldonado’s attorneys Kalman Resnick and Charlie Wysong.
“We’re very hopeful that upon Ruben’s return to the family the daughter will be able to continue to receive the treatment she needs,” Resnick said.
Her doctors said Ofelia — a model student at Lake View High School who Resnick called a “delightful human being” — needed a strong support system to give her the best chance at recovery, and Maldonado’s lawyers said her emotional and physical health have been hit hard by her dad’s detainment.
“It’s scary when her treatment, which her doctors at [Lurie Children’s Hospital] want her to undergo, can be interrupted,” Resnick said.
Maldonado was forcibly removed from his car by masked ICE agents the day after Ofelia was released from the hospital, Block Club Chicago reported, prompting swift calls from elected officials for a hearing and his release.
As of Thursday afternoon, Maldonado’s wife Sandibell Hidalgo was on her way to pick up her husband from ICE custody in Clay County, Indiana, Resnick said.
Following his expected release, Maldonado’s lawyers said they’ll apply for cancellation of removal, which is meant to protect immigrants who have been in the country for more than 10 years from deportation and allow them to apply for permanent residency, or what’s typically known as a green card.
After that, they have their sights set on citizenship for Maldonado, whose two children are U.S. citizens. While Maldonado’s extenuating family circumstances likely expedited his release, Resnick and Wysong were clear that his case should be a warning that immigrants’ legal rights are being violated as part of President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation campaign. Maldonado had a bond hearing, but some detainees aren’t given one under a recent Department of Homeland Security policy based on a new interpretation of an existing law.
“Due process really means the right to tell your own side of the story … the legal right to be free from incarceration,” Wysong said.
Maldonado’s family was “thrilled” to hear of his imminent release, but they’re focused on the big picture of the current immigration system, Maldonado’s attorneys said.
“Even a family like Ruben — who can get a lawyer right away, who can be lucky enough to get into court the same day, whose case can be heard promptly by our judicial system — even he is separated from his children for weeks and that is the best case scenario,” Wysong said.
Ofelia, specifically, wants to serve as a symbol of solidarity and hope for other immigrant families, Resnick said.
“She said ‘I feel like I’m an advocate not just for my family, and me, but I’m an advocate by standing up and telling our stories for all the other families in our city who are being terrorized by ICE and broken by ICE,’” Resnick said.