Ruben Torres Maldonado is reunited with his children, Nathan, 4, and Ofelia, 16, and wife Sandibell Hidalgo at the family’s home in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood on Oct. 30, 2025. An immigration judge granted bond to Torres after he was arrested by federal immigration agents at a Home Depot in Niles while his daughter Ofelia was on a temporary break from treatment for Stage 4 cancer. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Ruben Torres Maldonado returned home to his wife, sick daughter and 4-year old son after nearly two weeks in ICE custody.
The 40-year-old Portage Park man’s 16-year-old daughter, Ofelia, is undergoing cancer treatment. Maldonado’s arrest at a Home Depot and the government’s refusal to voluntarily allow him out on bond while his case is ongoing drew intense scrutiny from public officials who said it was cruel. An immigration judge ordered him released from an Indiana jail on Thursday and he was home that night.
Ruben Torres Maldonado kisses daughter Ofelia, 16, as the family reunites at their home in Chicago’s Portage Park neighborhood on Oct. 30, 2025. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)Ruben Torres Maldonado kisses son Nathan, 4, after being reunited with his family, Oct. 30, 2025, at home in Chicago's Portage Park neighborhood. Wife Sandibell Hidalgo is at left. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)Ofelia Torres, 16, is wheeled through the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 23, 2025, after a hearing for her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, who was detained by ICE agents outside a Niles Home Depot. Ofelia has a rare form of metastatic cancer. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)Ald. Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth, 48th, speaks at Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 23, 2025, after a hearing for Ruben Torres Maldonado, who was detained by ICE agents outside a Niles Home Depot on Oct. 18. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)Ofelia Torres, 16, is pushed through the lobby of Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 23, 2025, after a hearing for her father Ruben Torres Maldonado, who was detained by ICE agents outside a Niles Home Depot. Ofelia is in treatment for a rare form of metastatic cancer. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)Ald. Matthew Martin, 47th, left, speaks to attorney Kalman Resnick at Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Oct. 23, 2025, after a hearing for Resnick’s client, Ruben Torres Maldonado. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)State Rep. Will Guzzardi and colleague Rep. Laura Faver Dias listen to an emotional plea from Sandibell Hidalgo and Ofelia Torres, 16, to release Ruben Torres Maldonado from ICE custody during an Oct. 22, 2025, news conference at the Northwest Center in Chicago. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez calls for the release of Ruben Torres Maldonado during a news conference Oct. 22, 2025, at the Northwest Center in Chicago. Torres was detained by ICE agents on Oct. 18 at a Niles Home Depot. He is a father of two, including 16-year-old Ofelia, who is in treatment for Stage 4 cancer. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)Ofelia Torres, 16, left, and her mother, Sandibell Hidalgo, 40, at their home on Oct. 20, 2025, in Chicago. Torres' father and Hidalgo's husband, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was taken by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers over the weekend. Ofelia Torres was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma cancer in December 2024. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)
