RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A father living in Raleigh who has a daughter fighting cancer is facing deportation, advocacy groups say.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials told CBS North Carolina that Mosa Hamadessa was taken into federal custody Thursday in Raleigh.ICE says the Israeli Palestinian was in the United States illegally and that a judge in 2013 ordered him to leave the country.

Hamadessa’s appeals failed.

“Hamadeesa has never had legal status in the United States, multiple courts have found him subject to deportation, and he was taken into ICE custody to execute the judicial order,” ICE officials said in a statement.

Wednesday afternoon, Muslims for Social Justice and other immigration advocacy groups will hold a news conference about getting Hamadessa released.

They say he is the only income earner for his four children and that one is receiving treatment for cancer at Duke Hospital.

The news conference will be at the Wake County Justice Center in Raleigh at 3 p.m. Wednesday.

Hamadessa remains in ICE custody in Georgia at the Stewart Detention Center, according to ICE records.