Patrick Filbin/Block Club ChicagoRep. Delia Ramirez said she’s preparing legislation to “rein in ICE” as she and other officials push for an investigation into Ruben Torres Maldonado’s arrest by a “terror force” of federal agents.
This story was originally published in Block Club Chicago, a nonprofit newsroom focused on Chicago’s neighborhoods. Sign up for its free daily newsletter.
BELMONT CRAGIN — State and local leaders on Wednesday called for the immediate release of Ruben Torres Maldonado, saying the arrest by federal agents of the longtime Chicago resident was unlawful and part of a “weaponized” crackdown on immigrant communities across the city.
“We are very clear that the greatest threats to public safety in our communities — it’s called ICE, it’s called CBP,” Ramirez said. “ICE is operating as a terror force using a fascist administration to separate families and cause trauma.”
Want to receive stories like this in your inbox every week?
Sign up for our free newsletter.
Torres Maldonado, 40, was violently taken from his truck in the parking lot of a Niles Home Depot on Oct. 18, said his attorney, Kalman Resnick. He’s been detained since then at the ICE processing center in suburban Broadview, where his lawyers say he’s being held in overcrowded, unsanitary conditions with limited access to food.
Torres Maldonado’s teenage daughter had just spent 39 days in the hospital going through chemotherapy and radiation therapy before he was taken by agents.
Ramirez said she’s preparing legislation to “rein in ICE” and will soon hold a congressional field hearing in Chicago with U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García and judiciary committee leaders to push for an investigation into what she described as racial profiling and unlawful detentions.
“We are calling for a full investigation into what is happening every single day and the racial profiling that has caused Ruben to be separated from his family,” Ramirez said.
A hearing in Torres Maldonado’s case is scheduled for Thursday morning before U.S. District Judge Jeremy Daniels. Resnick said the government could release Torres Maldonado at any time.
“It can be resolved tomorrow. It can be resolved today,” Resnick said. “The government can simply decide to release Ruben and file the papers that need to be filed. They don’t have to wait.”
A petition demanding Torres Maldonado’s release had gathered more than 580 signatures as of midday Wednesday.
“Now, we need to come together to use our collective voices to prevent this tragedy from continuing to unfold,” Ald. Matt Martin (47th) said in an email to constituents. Martin was among those at Wednesday’s press conference.
Torres Maldonado has lived in Chicago since 2003 with his partner, Sandibell Hidalgo, and their two children, Ofelia, 16, and Nathan, 4. He has no criminal record beyond minor traffic citations and has worked for the same employer for two decades, Resnick said.
Ofelia Torres, a 16-year-old student at Lake View High School, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in December.
With Ofelia Torres lying next to her on a couch at their home in Belmont Cragin, Hidalgo spoke through tears on a video call with Block Club Wednesday about the toll her husband’s arrest has taken on her family.
“It hasn’t even been a week yet, and it’s been so hard trying to raise a toddler that’s full of energy and take care of my daughter who has medical needs,” Hidalgo said.
On Tuesday, Ofelia Torres spent hours crying as the news of her family’s situation spread across the city.
“I know I should be calm, because cancer feeds from those things,” Ofelia Torres told her mom. “I have to be calm so the cells don’t reproduce. But this is so hard. My heart is aching — physically, I feel it aching — and I know my cancer may be spreading faster because of this, but I’m trying to be strong.”
Valerie Wadycki, Ofelia’s in-home teacher at Lake View High School, said her student’s determination continues to inspire everyone around her. She created a fundraiser for the family, and it has raised over $84,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Despite arduous rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, her mind was sharp, her drive to learn was strong,” Wadycki said. “Ofelia only agreed for me to launch the GoFundMe with the understanding that any money her family didn’t need could be donated to others who might need it more.”
Hidalgo said Ofelia Torres’ recent hospital stay changed her, spiritually and emotionally, and that her daughter often reminds her to keep faith and love at the center of everything.
“She told me, ‘Mom, I think I found my purpose … to show everyone that we should love one another,’” Hidalgo said. “Sometimes I feel like she’s hiding so much pain, but she says, ‘Mom, it’s OK, this pain will be over soon.’”
Hidalgo ended with a plea for her husband’s release.
“All I’m asking is just to have a chance to have him back so she could keep fighting for her life,” she said.
Community groups including ONE Northside and the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights joined Wednesday’s press conference, warning that families across Illinois are increasingly afraid to go to work, school or the grocery store as federal operations ramp up.
State Rep. Will Guzzardi, who met Ofelia Torres earlier this year, said her courage has moved him deeply — and her father’s arrest should outrage everyone.
“They say they’re here to go after violent criminals, but this weekend, they got the best of the best,” Guzzardi said. “Ruben is a strong, loving father; a hardworking, tax-paying Chicagoan. To see her father ripped away from her as she’s fighting this battle for her life is unconscionable.”
Bring power to immigrant voices!
Our work is made possible thanks to donations from people like you. Support high-quality reporting by making a tax-deductible donation today.
Bring power to immigrant voices!
Our work is made possible thanks to donations from people like you. Support high-quality reporting by making a tax-deductible donation today.
