Overview
- Ruben Torres Maldonado posted bond and was released Thursday to rejoin his family after his Oct. 18 arrest outside a Niles Home Depot during a regional ICE enforcement campaign.
- Immigration Judge Eva S. Saltzman set bond at $2,000 and said the record showed no danger to the community, citing strong family and community ties and no criminal history beyond minor traffic citations.
- A U.S. district judge earlier found his detention unlawful for lack of a prompt bond hearing, which required immigration officials to hold Thursday’s proceeding.
- The Department of Homeland Security has alleged habitual driving offenses and that he backed into a government vehicle during the arrest, claims disputed by his attorneys and not treated by the judge as grounds to deny release.
- He remains in removal proceedings but is eligible to seek cancellation of removal based on hardship to his U.S. citizen children, as his daughter’s stage 4 cancer treatment was disrupted during his detention.