Immigration judge releases Chicago dad whose daughter is fighting cancer; 'I wish you much luck in the future and I wish your daughter a full recovery'

Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune on Oct 30, 2025

Published in News & Features

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CHICAGO — Ruben Torres Maldonado is coming home to his wife, sick daughter and four-year old son.

An immigration judge granted the 40-year-old Portage Park man detained by federal immigration agents bond on Thursday morning, nearly two weeks after he was arrested. His 16-year-old daughter, Ofelia, is undergoing cancer treatment and Maldonado’s arrest drew intense scrutiny from public officials who criticized the case due to the hardship it posed for his family.

Torres 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 family was exceptional hardship.

Torres and his wife Sandibell Hidalgo are parents of not only Ofelia, but also of 4-year-old son, Nathan. The father, a 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.

Last week, a judge ruled that Maldonado must be given a bond hearing on or before Halloween after lawyers for the family petitioned the court he be freed as his deportation case works its way through the system.

Federal prosecutor Craig Oswald had acknowledged the “very serious situation” facing the family. He said there was some discussion about releasing Torres voluntarily, but after discussing with “our client” the government declined in part because Torres declined to cooperate when they were arresting him, Oswald said.

On Thursday, Immigration Judge Eva Saltzman noted he is an unlikely flight risk and has a case to potentially remain in the United States.

“I wish you much luck in the future and I wish your daughter a full recovery,” she said.

His attorney, Kalman Resnick, previously said he will try to prevent Torres’ deportation “on account of his many years of residence in the U.S., his good moral character, and the exceptional and extremely (unusual) hardships his children will experience if he were removed from the United States.”

Torres could be home with his family as soon as today. He is currently being held in Clay County, Indiana.

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