Chicago teen who called for father's release from ICE detention dies
Chicago teen who called for father's release from ICE detention dies
Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY Mon, February 16, 2026 at 1:33 AM UTC
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A Chicago teenager who garnered national attention for fighting for her father's release after he was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2025 has died, a family spokesperson said.
Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo, 16, died on Friday, Feb. 13, from stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, according to a statement from the family's spokesperson. Torres Hidalgo had been diagnosed with the rare and aggressive form of soft tissue cancer in December 2024.
The teenager was undergoing cancer treatment and had been home visiting her family for the weekend when her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was arrested in October 2025 at a Home Depot store in suburban Chicago, a GoFundMe page set up for the family states. He was detained during the Trump administration's "Operation Midway Blitz," a major immigration enforcement campaign that brought a surge of federal agents to the Chicago area.
1 / 0Chicago protests push back against increased federal immigration raidsA pastor reads the Bible during a standoff with police officers outside the Broadview ICE facility, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention, in Chicago, Ill. on Nov.1, 2025.
Following his arrest, Torres Hidalgo posted a video on social media calling for his release. She described her father as a hardworking immigrant who cared for her younger brother while she stayed at the hospital for treatment.
“My dad, like many other fathers, is a hard-working person who wakes up early in the morning and goes to work without complaining, thinking about his family," Torres Hidalgo said in the video. "I find it so unfair that hardworking immigrant families are being targeted just because they were not born here."
Torres Hidalgo "successfully fought for her father’s freedom" and an immigration judge in Chicago ruled three days before her death that her father was conditionally entitled to receive "cancellation of removal" due to the hardships his deportation would cause his children, who are U.S. citizens, according to the family's spokesperson.
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The ruling provides Torres Maldonado with a path to obtaining lawful permanent residence and eventual U.S. citizenship, the statement said. Torres Hidalgo was present via Zoom at her father's hearing last week.
"Ofelia was heroic and brave in the face of ICE’s detention and threatened deportation of her father," Kalman Resnick, Torres Maldonado’s attorney, said in a statement. "We mourn Ofelia’s passing, and we hope that she will serve as a model for us all for how to be courageous and to fight for what’s right to our last breaths."
'A steadfast, dedicated and truly inspiring life'
Torres Hidalgo was a junior at Lake View High School in Chicago, according to the family's attorney. Private funeral arrangements have been made.
The GoFundMe page, set up by Torres Hidalgo's in-home teacher Valerie Wadycki, initially asked for funds to assist with Torres Maldonado's legal fees and to help the family while he was being detained. In an update on Sunday, Feb. 15, Wadycki said the fundraiser was adjusted to help with Torres Hidalgo's funeral arrangements.
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"I am deeply saddened to share with you that Ofelia Torres has passed away," the GoFundMe page states. "Thank you for your kindness in supporting this family during this difficult time. Thank you also for respecting their privacy as they mourn this tremendous loss."
Wadycki described Torres Hidalgo as "bright, curious, and thoughtful." Wadycki said she had been working with Torres Hidalgo as her in-home teacher while the teenager was being treated for cancer.
Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo died on Friday, Feb. 13, according to a family spokesperson. She was 16.
"Through my time working with Ofelia, I have grown close to her family and have learned what a dedicated mother and hard-working and loving father she has," Wadycki noted.
In a statement on Sunday, Feb. 15, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson said the teenager "led a steadfast, dedicated and truly inspiring life."
"Today I join Chicagoans across our city in mourning Ofelia Torres — a young woman who fought for her father and her family in the face of a cruel, targeted campaign through which Donald Trump has sought to strip from us the very humanity that defines our families and our communities," Johnson said.
Chicago immigration crackdown: Trump administration launches Operation Midway Blitz
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On Oct. 18, 2025, Torres Maldonado was leaving a Home Depot store in Niles, a village bordering Chicago's far northwest side, after getting supplies for his job, according to the GoFundMe page. As he was leaving, he was detained by federal agents.
"ICE agents called out to him by name. He attempted to ignore them and got in his car and locked the door," according to the GoFundMe page. "That is when one of the four ICE agents started smashing the passenger side of his car in an attempt to get in."
An ICE agent threatened Torres Maldonado with a gun, the GoFundMe page claims. Torres Maldonado then willingly exited the car and was arrested.
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After the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good by federal immigration agents (ICE), communities across the U.S. are protesting against Trump's surge of immigration enforcement actions.Pictured here, Demonstrators gather for a protest calling for the removal of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Jan. 30, 2026 in the Chinatown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Protests were held across the United States in response to ICE enforcement activity.
At the time, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security told NBC Chicago that Torres Maldonado had been "charged multiple times with driving without insurance, driving without a valid license, and speeding" and claimed he attempted to flee in his vehicle.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Torres Maldonado, a painter, entered the United States in 2003 and lived in Chicago with his partner of 20 years. A judge ruled on Oct. 24, 2025, that Torres Maldonado was unlawfully detained and he was later released on bond, according to the newspaper and NBC Chicago.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chicago teenager whose father was detained by ICE in 2025 dies
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