The United States government’s detention of Ruben Torres Maldonado, the 40-year-old Portage Park man detained by federal immigration agents while his 16-year-old daughter, Ofelia, is undergoing cancer treatment, is illegal and he must be given a bond hearing, federal judge Jeremy Daniel ruled on Friday.
Lawyers for the family petitioned the court for Maldonado to be freed as his deportation case works its way through the system.
In a short order late Friday, the judge ruled that Maldonado must be given a bond hearing on or before Halloween.
“We’re pleased that the judge ruled in our favor in determining that ICE is illegally detaining Ruben. We will now turn the fight to immigration court so we can secure Ruben’s release on bond while he applies for permanent residence status,” said Kalman Resnick, the attorney representing Maldonado.
“Ruben is a loving father and belongs with his family – especially as his daughter, Ofelia, battles stage four metastatic cancer. The separation of this family is inhumane and profoundly unjust. We are hopeful he will be returning home pending an immigration bond hearing in the coming days.”
Maldonado was detained at a Home Depot in Niles while his daughter was on a temporary break from cancer treatment at Lurie Children’s Hospital. His attorneys argued that keeping him separated from his wife, daughter and four-year old son while his deportation case works its way through the system presented a severe hardship on his family.
Torres and his wife Sandibell Hidalgo are parents of not only Ofelia, but also a 4-year-old son, Nathan. The father, a 40-year-old painter and home renovator, is the primary breadwinner in a household with carefully balanced child care responsibilities in their Portage Park bungalow. The mother often sleeps at the hospital while he takes care of their preschooler.