There have been so many fake or misleading "news" stories about ICE sweeps, detentions, and deportations over the last several months that I've honestly lost count.
Some have falsely claimed, for instance, that random illegal immigrants with no criminal histories have been picked up off the streets while they were walking to work. They’ve also falsely claimed young children who were U.S. citizens were deported out of the country, even though the real story was their mothers were illegal immigrants who were facing deportation and who chose to take them with them.
"Three U.S. citizens ages 4, 7, and 2 were not deported — their mothers, who were illegally in this country, were deported. The children went with their mothers!" Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated during an April interview with NBC News. "The parents make that choice."
READ MORE: Rubio Nukes the Latest Media Story Brewing About Deportations
The latest example, once again, comes from KTLA, which is turning into Ground Zero for the types of stories that sound like immigration activists wrote them, like the grossly distorted piece they wrote about an "ICE raid at home of pregnant L.A. County mother," only for DHS point out that "At this house was an illegal alien from Mexico who had previously been deported. His criminal history includes drug trafficking and assault."
Unfortunately, KTLA appears to be at it again, writing about an "L.A. mother [who] says she was taken to U.S. border, being held until she self-deports" and whose attorney equated what she says happened to a "kidnapping":
Loved ones and attorneys held a press conference on Monday to speak out about a South Los Angeles mother and community leader who they say was taken last week by possible federal agents, brought down to the U.S. border at San Ysidro and is now being held in a warehouse until she agrees to self-deport.
Attorney Stephano Medina detailed what he described as a kidnapping of community leader Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, who goes by the name Juli, on Wednesday, June 25.
A representative from Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights - Los Angeles (CHIRLA), a non-profit that RedState reported was "heavily involved in instigating the initial protest and calling for additional protests" amid the LA riots, spoke at the press conference held by the family and the attorneys. RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar also noted this about CHIRLA in previous reporting:
CHIRLA and their friends at the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) are well-funded, and well-connected, and have been astroturfing protests against Donald Trump and his belief in upholding our country’s immigration laws for a decade now.
Left-wing news websites also amplified the claims coming from Calderon's attorneys, like The Nation, as well as The Prospect:
I just came back from a press conference for Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, or Juli. She was taken on Wednesday, June 25 by men who did not identify themselves. Her family can't find her in any ICE detainee databases. They say she is in a "warehouse" in an unknown location pic.twitter.com/j8sc7OJTqF
— Zurie Pope (@PopeZurie) June 30, 2025
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, an organizer with the Los Angeles-based Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, was picked up by men in an unmarked car last Wednesday, & nobody knows where she is. She made a phone call late Friday & the information she gave is chilling pic.twitter.com/QP8kcvSGU6
— David Dayen (@ddayen) June 29, 2025
For the record, the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment bills itself as "a multi-racial, democratic, non-profit community organization that builds power to fight and stand for economic, racial, and social justice."
One had to scroll several paragraphs down in the KTLA piece to see the statement from DHS on the story:
“This woman was never arrested or ‘kidnapped’ by ICE,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “If the media would have bothered to ask—ICE does not employ bounty hunters to make arrests. This bizarre tale about being picked up by bounty hunters, taken to an unmarked warehouse without access to food, water, or an attorney were clearly fabricated.”
"Lazy reporting like this is why trust in the media is at an all-time low," DHS also suggested on social media. "This type of fear mongering demonizes our law enforcement who are now facing a nearly 700% increase in assaults against them."
In my opinion, something's not adding up about the story being told by the attorneys. We'll provide updates when we learn more.
Editor’s Note: Thanks to President Trump, illegal immigration into our great country has virtually stopped. Despite the radical left's lies, new legislation wasn't needed to secure our border, just a new president.
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