Thanks to reader Kevin

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July 17, 2025 | Sundance

This story is representative of just how desperate the political left and media have become over the issue of deporting illegal aliens.

41-year-old Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, of South Los Angeles, who is an illegal alien, participated in a scheme to falsify a rather elaborate story claiming to have been kidnapped by ICE agents. The woman and a group of co-conspirators, including her lawyer, fabricated a story and held press conferences claiming she was abducted by ICE agents. The entire story was false, and she was arrested for fabricating the scheme

(Her daughter then set up a 'GoFundMe' page asking for money)

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DOJ – LOS ANGELES – An illegal alien from Mexico has been charged in a federal criminal complaint with orchestrating a phony kidnapping – which she blamed on federal agents or people working with federal agents – to generate public sympathy and solicit donations, the Justice Department announced today.

[…] According to an affidavit filed with the complaint filed Wednesday, an attorney representing Calderon’s family held a press conference on June 30 to announce that Calderon had reportedly been kidnapped five days earlier at a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in downtown Los Angeles and brought to San Ysidro, where “she was presented to [a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] staffer” and “presented with voluntary self-deportation paperwork.” The attorney then said Calderon refused to sign the paperwork and demanded to speak to a judge and a lawyer. In response, “she was punished” and was sent to a warehouse in an undisclosed location.

The press conference garnered media attention and stoked fear in the community. Meanwhile, Calderon’s daughter set up a GoFundMe page, requesting $4,500 and stating that Calderon “was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle… when she was on her way to work.” According to the complaint, this entire story was fabricated.

More
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/mexican-national-charged-federal-criminal-complaint-staging-fake-immigration