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A chicago An immigration judge ruled Thursday that a man whose 16-year-old daughter is being treated for advanced cancer will be released on bond and returned home.
Lawyers for Ruben Torres Maldonado, a 40-year-old painter and home renovator who was detained at a suburban Home Depot store on Oct. 18, have petitioned for his release as his deportation case winds through the system.
Judge Eva S. Saltzman cited Torres Maldonado’s lack of criminal history in granting his release on $2,000 bond on Thursday.
“We are pleased that the judge today made the humane and common-sense decision to reunite Ruben Torres Maldonado with his family while they deal 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 he is applying for permanent residence in the United States.
Torres Maldonado’s daughter, Ofelia Torres, was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of soft-tissue cancer called metastatic alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma in December and was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments.
“I can’t wait to see my dad,” Ophelia said in a statement. “We need him to be home with me and our family.”
Ofelia described her father in a video as “a hard-working man who wakes up early in the morning and goes to work without any complaints, thinking about his family”. gofundme A page was set up for his family.
Torres Maldonado and his partner Sandibel Hidalgo also have a 4-year-old son. Hidalgo thanked the judge, his community and those who followed the family’s story as it made national headlines this month.
“For everyone who has donated to our GoFundMe, brought us dinner and provided emotional support, we are so grateful,” he said in a statement.
The arrest of Torres Maldonado follows weeks of tense standoffs 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 was illegal and a violation of his due process rights. But Daniel also said that he could not order his immediate release.
“While being sympathetic to the plight of the petitioner’s daughter due to her health concerns, the court must act within the ambit of relevant laws, rules and precedents,” the judge wrote on Friday.
Department of Homeland Security Torres Maldonado is alleged to have lived in the US illegally for years after entering the US in 2003.