Undocumented woman staged fake ICE kidnapping to generate sympathy and donations, DOJ claims
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.
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, an undocumented woman from Los Angeles, faked her own kidnapping and blamed it on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to generate sympathy and donations, the Justice Department has claimed (Justice Department)
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.
When The Independent reached out to GoFundMe about the $80 raised on Calderon’s behalf, a spokesperson for the company said: “GoFundMe has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform, or any attempt to exploit the generosity of others, and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing.
“This fundraiser was removed from the platform and the $80 raised was refunded; at no point did the organizer have access to any of the funds. The GoFundMe Giving Guarantee guarantees donors a full refund in the rare case something isn’t right.”....
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So they have video of her getting into a car when she said ICE kidnapped her and they have phone records that prove she wasn't kidnapped. She is in mucho trouble.
