A family working to keep their 18-month-old daughter healthy, after she was diagnosed with leukemia, has another burden, the fear of her father’s deportation. Cristian Avalos-Merino was in Chicago on Tuesday to sign his deportation papers. At the same time, immigration activists gathered outside ICE Headquarters demanding his release. Now, they are waiting for a response.“I don’t know what to say I just need I need my husband out,” says Nora Quiñónez. “She needs to be taken care of.”Quiñónez was alone when she received the news that her daughter has leukemia. The diagnosis came as her father sat in a McHenry County Jail cell, detained by ICE agents. Avalos-Merino was arrested in May when Cicero Police found him asleep in the front passenger seat of his car with an open container of alcohol. He was deported in 2008, but he fled El Salvador, returning to the U.S. in fear of his life. He applied for asylum but was denied. “People are forced to migrate, based on conditions in home countries and a lot of that is the responsibility of US foreign policies,” says Irene Romulo, a volunteer with Organized Communities Against Deportations.She and many other activists are asking ICE to allow Avalos-Merino, the sole provider for this family, to return to his two daughters. “We want everyone to understand the terror that our communities are under,” says Romulo. “Its been difficult very hard, trying to manage two kids, now especially with her being diagnosed, it’s very, very hard,” says Quiñónez. Avalos-Merino remains at the McHenry County Jail, waiting for his old deportation order to be reinstated. ICE has yet to respond to the family.