Dad with leukemia in ICE custody is separated from his doctors in MI, suit says
UPDATE: On Oct. 17, a federal judge ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Jose Daniel Contreras-Cervantes and nine other immigrants, or allow for them to attend a bond hearing within seven days to advocate for their release, according to the ACLU of Michigan. The other immigrants include seven individuals represented by the ACLU and two others represented by private counsel.
The original story is below.
A man’s immigration detention in Michigan is putting his life at risk, according to a federal lawsuit, which says he is not receiving proper care for a rare form of leukemia as he remains separated from his team of doctors.
Attorneys with the ACLU of Michigan are calling on the government to grant a bond hearing for Jose Daniel Contreras-Cervantes, or release him from the North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Michigan.
Contreras-Cervantes, 33, a father of three children who are U.S. citizens, has chronic myeloid leukemia, a rare blood cancer that forms in a person’s bone marrow, according to his attorneys.
In a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed Sept. 29, his attorneys write the government is illegally denying Contreras-Cervantes and seven other plaintiffs a bond hearing while they are detained in ICE custody because of a Trump administration directive that went into effect on July 8.
The directive no longer allows those in immigration detention to request bond hearings, which could allow them the opportunity for conditional release as their immigration case is pending, the lawsuit says.
“This new ICE directive is one of the most dangerous and far-reaching abuses of power that we’ve seen in this Administration’s mass deportation campaign,” ACLU of Michigan senior staff attorney Miriam Aukerman said in an Oct. 2 news release.
“If unchecked, it will affect thousands, possibly millions of people,” Aukerman said, adding that the “directive is specifically designed to force people to give up their claims for immigration relief and leave their families behind.”
Contreras-Cervantes, who came to the U.S. at age 14, has been detained by immigration authorities since Aug. 5, when he was pulled over by Macomb County sheriff’s deputies, according to the lawsuit. He was accused of driving 6 to 10 mph over the speed limit.
After the traffic stop, he was transferred to U.S. Border Patrol custody, the lawsuit says. For the next several weeks, until Aug. 27, he was never given his necessary medications, according to the filing, which says, a day later, an immigration judge denied his request for a bond hearing.
He was taken into ICE custody on Sept. 3, the lawsuit says. Since then, “he is only receiving limited care,” has not been able to follow his treatment regimen or see his medical care team, according to his attorneys.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment Oct. 6.
Contreras-Cervantes is expected to have a shorter life span because of his leukemia, his wife said in a statement.
“It is hard enough knowing that my husband’s life will be cut short given his prognosis,” Lupita Contreras said. “But it is torture for me and my children to lose precious time with him because ICE locked him up away from us.”
“I agonize over whether he’s getting the care he needs to stay alive,” she added.
She has been married to Contreras-Cervantes for 10 years, according to the lawsuit. They live with their three children, ages 1, 8 and 9, in Macomb County, located in the Detroit metropolitan area.
When the immigration judge denied him a bond hearing, the court did not suggest he was a “flight risk or danger to the community,” the attorneys wrote in the lawsuit.
Contreras-Cervantes, they argue, presents no such risk, as he has serious health complications, has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years and is needed by his family.
His wife, 8-year-old and 1-year-old children also have “significant medical challenges,” the lawsuit says.
If the court does not intervene in his detention, Contreras-Cervantes could face months or years in immigration custody, which “jeopardizes his health due to lack of access to effective medication and specialized care,” according to the suit.
He is at “grave risk of severe complications, including permanent vision damage, uncontrolled white blood cell proliferation, infection, and death,” it read.
The ACLU of Michigan said at least three dozen courts in the U.S. have ruled it is illegal to detain individuals who have lived in the U.S. for lengthy periods of time without a bond hearing.
There have been no updates in Contreras-Cervantes’ situation, or his fellow plaintiffs’ situations, as of Oct. 6, ACLU of Michigan communications director Ann Mullen told McClatchy News.
“Losing him has turned our lives upside-down,” Lupita Contreras said. “We both worked, paid our bills and cared for our children together. Now, without him, it’s almost impossible for me to work since I have to care for our children, who also have medical conditions that require constant attention.”
This story was originally published October 6, 2025 at 1:37 PM.
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