12/31/2025 - ICE Unlawfully Detains Disabled Immigrant Father in Chicago, Lawyers and Organizing Team Seek Urgent Support from Public

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – Roa Immigration Law and ADC Immigration Law submitted a humanitarian request for release on behalf of Albeiro Ropero Remolina, an immigrant husband and father to three children, who was illegally arrested and detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on Monday, December 29 and remains in custody. Despite entering the United States and promptly  seeking asylum, having no criminal history, and complying with all government orders, ICE detained Albeiro and his wife (who has since been released). ICE is currently attempting to deny him access to life-saving medication for dire health conditions. 

Albeiro lives with a severe, uncontrolled seizure disorder which is life-threatening without his twice daily anticonvulsant medication. ICE officers’ actions have put him at risk of status epilepticus, brain injury, and death. This is not a routine medical issue, and even a single missed dose can be fatal. Any transfer, delay, or interruption in medication administration places him in grave and imminent danger, and ICE has refused to cooperate and provide his medications regularly. 

While detained, Albeiro has suffered many of the same human rights violations seen across the country under the Trump Administration. He has been shackled and mistreated, and denied timely meetings with his attorneys. ICE officers have attempted to coerce both Albeiro and his wife to sign documents for a whole-family deportation plan, which would include separating one child (the youngest of three, 6 years old) from the rest of the family. 

“ICE is violating a federal court order currently in place protecting the rights of Broadview detainees* and endangering a man’s life by withholding medical care and misleading his attorneys.” —Attorney Paula Roa

*Pablo Moreno Gonzalez et al. v. Kristi Noem et al.,

Albeiro’s legal team is calling on ICE to immediately provide him with his prescribed seizure medication, grant his attorneys immediate access to their client, and secure his immediate release. They are also urging members of Congress to press ICE to act without delay. The legal team emphasizes that the manner in which Albeiro was arrested, processed, and transferred — and the conditions under which he is being held — violate federal law, civil rights protections, and binding court orders, including the Temporary Restraining Order governing detainee rights at the Broadview ICE facility and the Castañon-Nava settlement governing warrantless arrests.

“My husband and I did nothing wrong. We are not criminals. We didn’t resist. They ambushed us. I was dragged from the car and forced to stand in the freezing cold — my socks and shoes soaked through with snow until I couldn’t feel my feet. I told them I was freezing and terrified, but they didn’t care. We were terrified when they separated us, and told them, but they didn’t care. I said I felt claustrophobic in my cell, but they didn’t care. 

I was crying and screaming and shaking, then started vomiting, but they didn’t care. It’s all been so traumatic. I don’t even know how to explain to the kids what’s happening.” —Albeiro’s wife (interpreted from Spanish)

Attorneys for the family filed a humanitarian request for release on Monday afternoon. Shortly afterward, ICE told Albeiro he would be released and instructed his family to come pick him up — only to instead keep him detained at the Broadview facility and transfer him to Indiana. ICE later reversed course, claiming a supervisory review was required and stating that he would be returned to Broadview, after already misleading the family and delaying his release. ICE has since decided to keep Albeiro in detention.

“I cannot stay silent while ICE detains a medically fragile Chicagoan with epilepsy and puts their life at risk. This is lawlessness, not enforcement. Families are being brutalized, court orders are being ignored, and people who followed the rules are being punished. When this is allowed to continue, we are no longer governed by the rule of law, but instead we are ruled by authoritarianism and fascism in real time.” —Graciela Guzman, State Senator

With three young children, and only one parent released from detention at present, the family is currently taking steps to secure his prompt release. His wife and their legal representation is currently seeking support in telling their story so that he can return to his family.

For all interview requests, please reach out to pr@dorothy-marketing.com

Link to current petition: https://c.org/H5HYF6484B

Link to donation page: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/hyde-park-migrant-family-needs-support