❓WHAT HAPPENED: A Mexican illegal alien backed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D) has been charged with allegedly staging her own “kidnapping” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to solicit donations.

👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, her daughter, Karen Bass, and federal law enforcement agencies.

📍WHEN & WHERE: Los Angeles, California, with events unfolding in June and July 2023.

💬KEY QUOTE: “Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are ‘kidnapping’ illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public.” – U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli

🎯IMPACT: The scheme diverted valuable law enforcement resources, according to HSI Special Agent Eddy Wang.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is charging Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, a 41-year-old Mexican illegal alien residing in South Los Angeles, with conspiracy and making false statements after she allegedly orchestrated her own “kidnapping” by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to gain sympathy and solicit donations. The alleged conwoman had received the public backing of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), who said in a July 1 social media post, “She’s a mother from LA—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.”

A press conference by Calderon’s attorneys and relations claimed she was abducted by uniformed men in unmarked vehicles on June 25. Attorney Stephano Medina alleged that Calderon was held by “bounty hunters” who attempted to coerce her into signing self-deportation documents. However, an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California alleges Calderon and others staged the incident as a hoax, with her daughter setting up a GoFundMe page to raise $4,500.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) launched an inquiry after the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) received a missing persons report. Investigators found inconsistencies, including calls Calderon allegedly made from “borrowed phones” that were traced back to her own number. Surveillance footage also contradicted claims of a forced abduction, showing Calderon calmly leaving the scene in a sedan without alerting nearby officers.

HSI agents eventually located Calderon in Bakersfield, California, where she continued to claim she had been “kidnapped.” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli criticized the false narrative, stating, “Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are ‘kidnapping’ illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public.”

HSI Special Agent Eddy Wang emphasized the resource strain caused by the hoax, noting, “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.”

Calderon faces up to five years in federal prison for each charge.

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