Crime & Law

Family Members, Elected Leaders Call for ICE to Release Chicago Man Whose Daughter Is Fighting Stage 4 Cancer

The family of a Chicago man who was detained by ICE over the weekend and whose daughter is fighting cancer, called for his release during a Wednesday news conference, along with local elected leaders. 

Ruben Torres Maldonado, 40, a home renovator and painter, was detained by ICE agents on Saturday at a Home Depot in Niles. Maldonado is a father of two children, 4-year-old Nathan and 16-year-old Ofelia Torres, who is currently undergoing treatment for Stage 4 rhabdomyosarcoma cancer.

Maldonado’s wife, Sandibell Hidalgo, who joined the news conference via Zoom alongside her daughter Ofelia, spoke about the difficulty of taking care of a young toddler and daughter with medical needs on her own. Hidalgo also described Ofelia, on top of feeling unwell, crying for hours, telling her how much she misses her dad.

“All I’m asking for is to release him, so he could come home,” Hidalgo said. “He’s a great man. He’s a taxpayer. He’s a wonderful dad, and I need his support … All I’m asking is just to have a chance to have him back, so [Ofelia] could keep fighting for her life.”

Maldonado has been held at the Broadview ICE Facility since Saturday, according to attorney Kalman Resnick, who is representing Maldonado’s family. Maldonado, who has lived in Chicago since 2003, is scheduled to have an immigration court hearing Thursday, according to Resnick.

According to a GoFundMe page created to help cover Maldonado’s legal fees, Maldonado was coming out of the Home Depot on Dempster Street in Niles with supplies for his job Saturday when ICE agents called out to Maldonado by name. He attempted to ignore them and got in his car and locked the door. One of the ICE agents then started smashing the passenger side of his car and another agent pulled out a gun. Maldonado then got out of the car, where he was then forced on the ground and detained.

In a statement to the Chicago Tribune, Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin accused Maldonado of “habitual driving offenses” and said he backed into a government vehicle while attempting to flee.

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez called for a full investigation into ICE tactics amid concerns of racial profiling by federal agents during heightened immigration enforcement operations in the Chicago area. Ramirez said she and other members of Congress will file legislation in the coming weeks to “rein in ICE.”

Ruben Torres Maldonado’s wife Sandibell Hidalgo, left, who joined a news conference via Zoom alongside her daughter Ofelia Torres, right, on Oct. 22, 2025, spoke about the difficulty of taking care of a young toddler and daughter with medical needs on her own. (WTTW News)

Ramirez was also joined by state Sen. Graciela Guzman, state Rep. Will Guzzardi and Chicago Ald. Matt Martin (47th Ward), whose ward includes Lake View High School, where Ofelia is a student. Martin described an outpouring of support from community members upon news spreading about the detainment of Ofelia’s father.

“Ofelia’s courage in sharing her story and standing up for her father reminds us all of what true strength looks like,” Martin said. “I believe that this family represents the best of who we are across Chicago: hardworking and loving, deeply rooted in our neighborhoods. Our community’s response shows that when you are hurting any one of us, that none of us will stand by silently.”

The GoFundMe started by Lake View High School teacher Valerie Wadycki, who also serves as Ofelia’s in-home instructor as she undergoes cancer treatment, has raised more than $84,000 in three days.

In a video shared on social media raising awareness of her father’s detainment, Ofelia said, “My dad, like many other fathers, is a hardworking person who wakes up early in the morning and goes to work without complaining, thinking about his family. I find it so unfair that hardworking immigrant families are being targeted just because they were not born here.”

Resnick argued if it wasn’t for recent changes in ICE policy that limit bond eligibility, Maldonado would be able to be released on bond and undergo a process called “cancellation of removal” based on his years living in the U.S., his moral character and “the exceptional and extremely unusual hardships his U.S. citizen children will experience if he is deported from the U.S. to Mexico.”

Attorneys representing Maldonado’s family said they will seek an order Thursday that ICE release Maldonado on his own recognizance or provide him with a bond hearing before an immigration judge who would not be bound by a recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision that was issued in accordance with the ICE new policy.

“These are civil proceedings, they’re not criminal proceedings against Ruben and all the other detainees,” Resnick said. “No one’s been charged with crimes, and yet, even though they’re civil proceedings, they’re being treated much worse than if they were criminal defendants because criminal defendants have more rights than people detained by ICE.”

Contact Eunice Alpasan: [email protected]

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