Illegal Migrant Faked ICE Kidnapping: DOJ

Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass (D.) promoted what federal prosecutors now say was an elaborate hoax perpetrated by an illegal alien who sought to "generate public sympathy and solicit donations" by falsely claiming to have been kidnapped by masked ICE agents.

On July 1, Bass touted the claims of Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, a 41-year-old Mexican national whose family said she was abducted in a Jack in the Box parking lot on her way to work days earlier. At a press conference on June 30, Calderon’s family said "she was taken … to the border and pressured to sign self deportation paperwork."

She’s a mother from L.A. — taken out of her car on her way to work, and then held in a warehouse as officers hoped she would “self-deport.”

No hearing. Just fear.

This doesn't make anyone safer. https://t.co/gwkq017y4l

— Mayor Karen Bass (@MayorOfLA) July 1, 2025

"She’s a mother from L.A.—taken out of her car on her way to work, and then held in a warehouse as officers hoped she would ‘self-deport,’" wrote Bass, citing a local news report about Calderon. "No hearing. Just fear," Bass added. "This doesn't make anyone safer."

But according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles, "this entire story was fabricated."

Video footage shows her calmly leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot in a sedan—not a vehicle with heavily armed federal agents, according to the criminal complaint against Calderon. "Telephone records demonstrate Calderon fabricated the entire story," prosecutors say. Calderon later staged photos of her "rescue" that were made to look like she was abused in ICE custody. Calderon "planned to hold a press conference on July 6 to increase donations to the GoFundMe page and to obtain other benefits," prosecutors say.

Calderon lied to Homeland Security investigators after they tracked her down at a shopping center on July 5 by claiming that she had been held in federal custody, according to the complaint.

Calderon, a longtime community organizer with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, a "racial and social justice" group, is charged with conspiracy and lying to federal agents, the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles announced.

She is now being held in federal immigration custody and will appear in federal court 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," said Los Angeles U.S. attorney Bill Essayli. "The conduct alleged in today’s complaint shows this hoax ‘kidnapping’ was a well-orchestrated conspiracy."

Bass, who has faced intense scrutiny over her handling of the Palisades wildfires earlier this year, did not respond to a request for comment. She has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of President Donald Trump’s immigration policies, while often embracing inflammatory rhetoric to criticize the administration.

Last week, she showed up during a Department of Homeland Security raid at MacArthur Park, known as a hotbed of gang activity. Bass called the raid "un-American" and claimed that children had been playing at the park before the raid. According to the New York Post, DHS agents raided the park to apprehend members of the notorious MS-13 street gang.

Calderon’s story was also promoted by Immigrant Defenders Law Center, an activist group whose board chair serves as a community liaison for the Department of Justice. Immigrant Defenders has received $17 million in taxpayer funds since last year to provide legal services for illegal aliens, the Washington Free Beacon reported.