A federal judge has ordered a bond hearing be held for Ruben Torres Maldonado, a detained immigrant whose daughter is suffering from cancer, as his deportation case makes its way through the system.
U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniel ruled on Friday that Maldonado’s rights were violated when he was detained without a bond hearing as the Trump administration moves to deport him.
Maldonado, a Mexican national who has been in the country since March 2003, was taken into custody near a Home Depot in north suburban Niles on Saturday, pending deportation proceedings.
His attorneys have sought his release from custody, noting he did not receive a bond hearing before an immigration judge, and that his criminal record includes nothing more than minor traffic violations. They also argued for his immediate release due to hardship, because his 16-year-old daughter Ofelia Torres is being treated for cancer, and he is the main parent who watches her brother while she is in the hospital.
“She needs him home, and the family needs him home. I’m hopeful he’ll be released from detention today, and we’re waiting for the ruling hopefully at any moment,” attorney Kalman Resnick said earlier Friday.
But, rather than release him from custody as his attorneys had sought, Daniel ruled that the government must provide him with a bond hearing by Oct. 31.
Daniel ruled, while it was a violation of both the Immigration and Nationality Act and Maldonado’s right to due process to detain him without a bond hearing, it would be improper to release him immediately.
“The appropriate remedy to address that wrong is to order the government to provide the petitioner with a bond hearing,” Dainiel wrote. “While sympathetic to the plight the petitioner’s daughter faces due to her health concerns, the Court must act within the constraints of the relevant statutes, rules, and precedents.”