Senator Kelly visits Eloy Detention Center, Meets with Detained Constituents
Today, Arizona Senator Mark Kelly traveled to the Eloy Detention Center today to meet with two constituents—Kelly Yu, a Peoria business owner, and Maria Pelaez, the mother of an active-duty U.S. Marine—currently in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody.
Yu fled China in 2004 as a teenager seeking asylum. In her 21 years in the U.S., she has established a life, opened a popular local restaurant, and married a U.S. citizen. She is the mother to a U.S. citizen child now in college. In the over 20 years she has lived in the United States, she routinely checked in with ICE as part of her immigration status. Yu was detained during one of these routine check-ins in May despite having no criminal record and being eligible for adjustment of status through marriage.
Pelaez was detained by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) at MCAS Yuma while caring for her 2-year-old grandson as her son, an active-duty U.S. Marine, was preparing to leave for a training exercise and her daughter-in-law was recovering from surgery. She has lived in the U.S. for 20 years without any criminal history. Despite her ties to the U.S. and her son’s service to the country, ICE has refused to release her following a judge’s decision to grant her bond.
Senator Kelly met with Yu and Pelaez and received a briefing and tour of the facility by ICE personnel.
“Donald Trump is going after people like Kelly Yu and Maria Pelaez who are mothers, grandmothers, members of our communities, instead of using ICE resources to go after criminals,” said Senator Kelly. “Hearing from them and their families about what they are going through was emotional at times, especially when Maria broke down into tears telling me how proud she was when her son became a Marine. My team and I will keep fighting for Kelly Yu and Maria Pelaez and their families. Arizonans deserve real solutions for our broken border and immigration system, not what I saw today which was ripping families and communities apart.”
Senator Kelly pledged to continue pressing ICE and the Trump administration for answers on detention practices, including more transparency at Eloy. Senator Kelly’s office is actively engaged in Yu and Pelaez’ cases.
In May of this year, Senator Kelly and other Arizona Democrats pressed the Trump Administration for answers on its recent initiatives to target and arrest immigrants at their immigration court hearings in Phoenix, diverting resources to detaining law-abiding individuals instead of violent criminals. Senator Kelly and several other Democratic Senators sent a follow-up letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) demanding accountability on the same issue.
In July of this year, Senator Kelly and several Democratic colleagues demanded answers from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons about ICE agent’s conduct, raising concern over ICE’s transparency and accountability.
