Chicago father of child fighting cancer released on bond by immigration
judge
[October 31, 2025]
By CHRISTINE FERNANDO
CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago man whose 16-year-old daughter is undergoing
treatment for advanced cancer will be released on bond and return home,
an immigration judge ruled Thursday.
Attorneys for Ruben Torres Maldonado, a 40-year-old painter and home
renovator who was detained Oct. 18 at a suburban Home Depot store, have
petitioned for his release as his deportation case goes through the
system.
Judge Eva S. Saltzman on Thursday cited Torres Maldonado’s lack of
criminal history while allowing his release on a $2,000 bond.
“We are gratified that the judge made the humane and common sense
decision today to reunite Ruben Torres Maldonado with his family while
they are dealing with this challenging health crisis for their child,”
his attorney, Kalman Resnick, said in a statement.
Resnick said Torres Maldonado will be released Thursday or Friday, and
is applying for U.S. permanent residency.
Torres Maldonado’s daughter, Ofelia Torres, was diagnosed in December
with a rare and aggressive form of soft-tissue cancer called metastatic
alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma and has been undergoing chemotherapy and
radiation treatment.
“I can’t wait to see my dad,” Ofelia said in a statement. “We need him
to be at home with me and our family.”
Ofelia described her father as a “hard-working person who wakes up early
in the morning and goes to work without complaining, thinking about his
family,” in a video posted on a GoFundMe page set up for her family.
Torres Maldonado and his partner, Sandibell Hidalgo, also have a
4-year-old son. Hidalgo thanked the judge, her community and people who
have followed the family's story as it made national headlines this
month.
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Sandibell Hidalgo, left, and Ofelia Torres, 16, speak to the room
about the detention of Ruben Torres Maldonado during a press
conference calling for the release of Ruben Torres Maldonado at 5233
W Diversey Ave, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 in Chicago. (Anthony
Vazquez /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
“To every person who has donated to our GoFundMe, brought us dinner,
and provided emotional support, we are so grateful,” she said in a
statement.
Torres Maldonado's arrest comes after weeks of tense encounters and
increasingly aggressive tactics by federal immigration agents
involved in Operation Midway Blitz, which has resulted in more than
3,000 arrests in the Chicago metropolitan area.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel said last week that Torres
Maldonado’s detention is illegal and violates his due process
rights. But Daniel also said he could not order 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,” the judge wrote
Friday.
The Department of Homeland Security alleges that Torres Maldonado
has been living illegally in the U.S. for years after entering the
U.S. in 2003.
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