An El Monte woman arrested by immigration officials returns home with her adult daughter, who is fighting rare bone cancer.
The judge agreed to allow Yolanda Perez to be released as Bond. Perez, 50, is the primary caregiver of her sick daughter. The Mexican national was released Tuesday after an illegal deposit in the country, issued a $1,500 margin after an immigration hearing in San Diego, according to David Acalin, the woman’s attorney.
Perez was arrested on February 24 when immigration and customs law enforcement officers appeared at her El Monte’s home to arrest her son, Jonathan Tejeda, who was also illegally in the country and was sentenced to nonviolent crimes including petty theft, including controlled drugs and Stor cargo, Akalin said.
“He has a colorful past, but he has cleaned up his life in the past few years,” Akalin said.
Akalin said Perez was detained when he asked why the agents were arrested. He said they asked about her immigration status, which led them to discover that she was convicted of theft in 2005.
Perez stole food to support her family, she paid the fine and completed a probation and never went to jail, the lawyer said.
She was arrested by ICE agents, which was initially reported By NBC 4because she has been taking care of her daughter, it has sparked anger in the community.
Akalin said her daughter, 21-year-old Xitlali Tejeda, has been battling conventional osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that limits her ability to move. He said she used a wheelchair, but more importantly, relying on her mother to take care of her and taking her to the doctor.
“She has missed a chemotherapy or two because of what happened,” he said.
At a hearing on Tuesday, Acalin told the judge about her daughter’s condition and how her mother, who has been in the country for more than 20 years, took care of her 24/7.
He said he hopes that the Department of Homeland Security prosecutors will allow the judge to decide whether Perez can issue a deposit. Instead, prosecutors took about 20 minutes to object to her release, he said.
“It is very strongly claimed that my client is flying risk, is a carer for her adult daughter with cancer, and she is a bad moral person due to shoplifting that happened 20 years ago.”
Akalin said he was speechless.
“If it wasn’t like that, they would show a little bit of compassion, then there would be no such thing.”
Akalin said he and the family thanked the federal judge for granting her release. He said he requested the case to be moved to Los Angeles, which could take weeks.
He said that until then, Perez will stay with his daughter.
