An undocumented woman faked her own kidnapping and blamed it on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to generate sympathy and donations, the Justice Department has claimed.
The DOJ said in a press release Thursday Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, a 41-year-old from Los Angeles, was taken into ICE custody and charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers.
The case comes amid criticism of President Donald Trump’s mass immigration deportation efforts, which have brought a spike in immigration raids across the country.
Federal prosecutors claimed, citing court documents filed Wednesday, that an attorney representing Calderon’s family held a press conference on June 30 saying the woman was kidnapped five days earlier in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in Los Angeles.
The lawyer claimed she was brought to San Ysidro near the southern border, where “she was presented to [a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] staffer” and “presented with voluntary self-deportation paperwork,” prosecutors said.
When Calderon refused to sign the papers and demanded to speak to a judge and a lawyer, “she was punished” and sent to a warehouse in an undisclosed location, the attorney claimed, according to prosecutors.
A GoFundMe page with a fundraising goal of $4,500 was set up by Calderon’s daughter, who claimed her mother “was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle…when she was on her way to work,” according to the DOJ’s press release.
A fundraising page matching the DOJ’s description said Calderon is the head of the family household and describes her as an “amazing mother and very dedicated.”
Her daughter said her mother takes care of her, two teenage children and two adults with disabilities.
“We are asking for help because we are also facing an eviction. Every single dollar could help us at this moment, and we are hoping that we could find out where they have her. We have already looked in detention centers as well as warehouses, and we still have no idea why they did not process her,” Calderon’s daughter wrote on the page.
The Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, an organization that advocates for immigrant families, posted on Facebook about Calderon on July 1, writing, “We Demand Her Return. We Demand Justice.”
The Independent has reached out to the organization for comment about Calderon’s case.
The Independent has reached out to Calderon’s daughter for comment. It has also reached out to GoFundMe to ask whether the $80 raised from the page would be refunded to the donors following the feds’ allegations.
Prosecutors said the whole story from Calderon’s family was “fabricated,” citing phone records and video surveillance, including footage of Calderon leaving the fast food restaurant and getting into a sedan nearby.
Federal agents began searching for Calderon over the Fourth of July holiday weekend after they confirmed she was not in immigration custody.
On July 5, Homeland Security agents found Calderon in a shopping plaza parking lot in Bakersfield, about a two-hour drive north of Los Angeles, prosecutors said. At this point, Calderon maintained she was taken by masked men and held in custody with others, according to prosecutors.
Calderon created what police believe to be fake rescue photos, made it look as if she was abused in ICE custody and planned to hold a press conference on July 6 to rake in more donations.
“Diverting critical law enforcement resources is not only reckless and irresponsible, but it also endangers the community. Since early July, my office invested valuable time and resources working this alleged kidnapping investigation only to discover that it was a hoax,” said Homeland Security Investigations Los Angeles Special Agent in Charge Eddy Wang said in the DOJ’s press release.
Wang continued: “The real cost of a fraud like this is the amount of fentanyl not seized, child predators not removed from the communities, and human trafficking victims not rescued because law enforcement re-directed resources to recover the defendant.”
If convicted, Calderon could face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each charge.
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