Federal prosecutors have charged a woman with faking her abduction by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in downtown Los Angeles last month, alleging a “well-orchestrated conspiracy” meant to elicit public sympathy and donations based on her undocumented status.
Authorities on Thursday announced that Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, of South L.A., has been charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers, with prison terms of up to five years. She has not yet entered a plea and is expected to make her initial court appearance in the coming weeks.
“Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are ‘kidnapping’ illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public and discredit our courageous federal agents,” U.S. Atty. Bill Essayli said in a statement.
On June 25, friends, family members and activists gathered outside a Jack in the Box in downtown to decry what they said was the “kidnapping” of a local mother by a group of masked men.
A lawyer for the family told reporters that Calderon, who goes by Juli, had pulled into the fast food restaurant’s parking lot to evade two trucks that had followed her down Alameda Street. As she did so, the lawyer said, the trucks pulled in behind her and a group of armed men who didn’t identify themselves sprang out and took her into their custody.
The lawyer said Calderon recounted being taken to a parking lot near the San Ysidro border crossing, where she was pressured by ICE staffers to sign self-deportation paperwork. She claimed her demands to see a judge or an attorney were ignored, and she was instead bundled into an unmarked vehicle and taken to a warehouse in an undisclosed location. The attorney said Calderon alleged she was only given water and denied access to showers, beds or blankets.
Attempts to reach her attorney for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.
At the time of the press conference, numerous immigrant rights groups showed up to support Calderon, including the Immigrant Defenders Law Center and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, of which Calderon is a member. They spoke about working to find Calderon in ICE’s detainee locator system, and contacting numerous branches of DHS. Despite their search, no evidence of Calderon’s whereabouts could be found.
Calderon’s daughter started a GoFundMe page to raise money, saying that the family couldn’t find her mother after she was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle “when she was on her way to work.” The fundraiser had only raised $80 of its stated goal of $4,500, as of Thursday.
But, according to an affidavit federal authorities filed in support of the criminal complaint, Calderon’s story was entirely made up.
Homeland Security Investigations agents began searching for Calderon over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, eventually tracking her down to the parking lot of a shopping plaza in Bakersfield. Calderon continued to claim she was taken by masked men and held in custody with others, the affidavit said.
Investigators tracked Calderon’s movements through cellphone records and surveillance footage that showed her leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot in a sedan parked nearby. She also created what law enforcement suspect were doctored photos of her “rescue,” which made it appear as though she had been abused while in ICE custody.
The case came amid an ongoing White House crackdown that has swept up hundreds of immigrants and sown fear across the region, and prompted local, state and federal leaders to demand that immigration agents identify themselves.
Concerns have spiked in recent weeks about ICE impersonators, the use of masks by federal agents to conduct ICE raids, and rumors about “bounty hunters.” A man in Huntington Park was arrested for impersonating an ICE officer, and L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger expressed concern about “bad players” exploiting the anonymity of ICE agents to wreak havoc.
Some people have taken to calling 911 to report a kidnapping that turned out to be an ICE operation. Law enforcement leaders, including LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell, have said that their officers would investigate to ensure there is no foul play but not interfere with federal agents carrying out their business.
