Ofelia Giselle Torres Hidalgo, 16, died Friday from stage 4 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma, the family said in a statement. Funeral arrangements are private. NDTV reported.
The teenager had been diagnosed in December 2024 with the aggressive form of soft tissue cancer and had been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
An immigration judge in Chicago ruled three days before Ofelia's death that her father, Ruben Torres Maldonado, was conditionally entitled to receive "cancellation of removal" due to the hardships his deportation would cause his children who were born in the United States and are US citizens, according to the statement sent by an attorney representing Torres Maldonado.
The ruling provides Torres Maldonado with a path to becoming a lawful permanent resident and eventual US citizenship, the statement said.
Ofelia was present via Zoom at last week's hearing.
"Ofelia was heroic and brave in the face of ICE's detention and threatened deportation of her father," said Kalman Resnick, Torres Maldonado's attorney. "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."
Torres Maldonado, a painter and home renovator, was detained October 18 at a Home Depot store in suburban Chicago as the area was at the center of a major immigration crackdown dubbed "Operation Midway Blitz," which began in early September.
