Woman fakes immigration kidnapping, then is found at CA shopping plaza, feds say
A woman accused of faking her immigration kidnapping from downtown Los Angeles was found at a shopping plaza’s parking lot in another California city days later, according to the Justice Department.
Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon, 41, of South Los Angeles, “blamed” her abduction “on federal agents or people working with federal agents — to generate public sympathy and solicit donations,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California said in a July 17 news release.
A federal criminal complaint filed July 17 charges Calderon with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers, according to prosecutors.
Now she is being held in U.S. immigration custody, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Calderon and her family are accused of lying that she was abducted by “masked men” from a Jack in the Box restaurant parking lot in Los Angeles in June.
An attorney for her family announced at a June 30 news conference that Calderon was kidnapped five days earlier and taken to San Ysidro, a San Diego district along the U.S.-Mexico border, where she faced a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee, according to prosecutors, who said Calderon is a citizen of Mexico and not in the U.S. legally.
“Yuli was taken directly from this parking lot to the border at San Ysidro, and there she was presented to an ICE staffer,” her family’s attorney, Stephano Medina, said at the conference according to a June 30 KABC-TV report. “There, Yuli was presented with voluntary self deportation paperwork.”
Calderon goes by Yuli, the TV station reported.
Medina, who works for the California Center for Movement Legal Services, did not immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment on July 18.
According to prosecutors, Medina said that Calderon would not agree to self-deportation and wanted to talk to a judge and a lawyer, but was “punished” and “sent to a warehouse” instead.
Calderon’s daughter created a GoFundMe page asking for $4,500 and wrote that her mother “was taken by masked men in an unmarked vehicle … when she was on her way to work,” prosecutors said.
A GoFundMe spokesperson said in a statement to McClatchy News on July 19 that the company “has zero tolerance for the misuse of our platform, or any attempt to exploit the generosity of others, and cooperates with law enforcement investigations of those accused of wrongdoing.”
“This fundraiser was removed from the platform and the $80 raised was refunded; at no point did the organizer have access to any of the funds,” the spokesperson said. “The GoFundMe Giving Guarantee guarantees donors a full refund in the rare case something isn’t right.”
A preview for the page appears to be visible as of July 18 in Google search results. However, GoFundMe’s website says “fundraiser not found.”
ICE agents have been seen wearing masks while carrying out enforcement actions in U.S. cities and communities. The practice has come under scrutiny and some lawmakers want to see the practice banned, McClatchy News reported.
Found after HSI launches a search
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that on July 3, “when Calderon was still purportedly missing, federal agents grew concerned after confirming that Calderon was not in immigration custody.”
A search for Calderon was launched by Homeland Security Investigations, according to prosecutors, who said agents found her at a Bakersfield shopping plaza on July 5. Bakersfield is about a 110-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
Prosecutors said Calderon and her family’s story about her kidnapping is fake, based on video surveillance and phone records. They cited footage of Calderon “leaving the Jack in the Box parking lot and getting into a nearby sedan.”
Calderon is further accused of faking photos to make it seem like she endured physical abuse in ICE custody, according to prosecutors.
Footage captured by KABC-TV shows Calderon’s loved ones, friends and co-workers gathered at the June 30 news conference, advocating for more information about what happened to her.
They were seen holding signs displaying different messages, including “where is Yuli?,” “help find my mother” and “stop the abductions.”
On July 17, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that Calderon “scammed innocent Americans for money” and that “liars” like her “are fueling” increased assaults against ICE agents.
David J. Bier, the director of immigration studies for the Cato Institute, a nonprofit libertarian think tank, previously told McClatchy News there’s been a change in ICE tactics, including masking and carrying out street arrests instead of arresting individuals who are already “behind bars.”
He said the new tactics are related to the harm agents have been facing and that he has “never seen any law enforcement agency have a policy of nearly always wearing masks to conduct routine operations.”
In criticizing the government’s report of increased assaults against agents, Bier said, “It’s clear many of the assaults are fake and it was the agents themselves who initiated the confrontation with bystanders, witnesses, and targets who they had no probable cause to believe were here illegally.”
As of June 23, out of about 59,000 immigrants detained in ICE detention centers in the U.S., almost half of those individuals have no criminal history, according to the National Immigration Forum, which cited ICE internal data.
This marks a “record high” in U.S. history, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit advocacy group reports.
Calderon is expected to have her initial appearance at the Los Angeles federal courthouse in the next few weeks, according to prosecutors.
This story was originally published July 18, 2025 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Woman fakes immigration kidnapping, then is found at CA shopping plaza, feds say."
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