Arrest of mother caring for cancer-stricken daughter fuels immigration tensions in California

Donald Trump’s cruel offensive against migrants have brought individuals like Yolanda Magallón Pérez into the spotlight. Her arrest by ICE agents was recently captured on video by residents of El Monte, a city east of Los Angeles. The arrest, which also involved her eldest son, Jonathan, set off a chain reaction that has disrupted the fragile balance thousands of Latino families in the United States are living under.

Yolanda was the primary caregiver for her 21-year-old daughter, Xitlali Tejeda, who is battling bone cancer and is confined to a wheelchair. The arrest has sparked widespread outrage across California, leading to small protests in the streets and in front of the immigration detention center where Magallón has been held since the end of February.

Magallón, a 50-year-old Mexican woman who has lived in the United States since 2002, was arrested when she stepped outside her home to move her car. As soon as she left the house, agents from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) emerged from several unmarked cars to question her. She remained silent as several neighbors watched.

“Everything is fine, you haven’t done anything,” one of her four children tells her while recording on his phone his mother being handcuffed on February 24.

“But they are going to take me,” she replies.

Yolanda was escorted to a van minutes later, despite having a virtually clean criminal record, with only a minor theft charge from 2005, according to her defense attorney.

Yolanda was escorted to a van minutes later despite her criminal record being virtually clean, with only a minor theft charge committed in 2005, according to her defense attorney David Acalin.

Jonathan Tejeda, Yolanda’s son and Xitlali’s brother, left the house amidst all the commotion and was also arrested by the agents. Unlike his mother, he has a “long and colorful” criminal history, according to Acalin, who is also representing him. The family claims he has reformed, arguing that the authorities are pursuing him for a crime committed a decade ago, for which he has already paid the price. One of his primary responsibilities now is being the main breadwinner of the household.

Yolanda is considered what ICE refers to as a “collateral arrest.” She was not the primary target of the immigration agents, but she was swept up in the aggressive campaign that Trump launched after returning to the White House. Magallón is currently being held at the Otay Mesa detention center in San Diego, located on the border with Mexico. This facility is often a starting point for deportations of undocumented immigrants to their home countries.

Xitlali explains that her osteosarcoma (bone cancer) began to spread a year ago. She is now in her second cycle of chemotherapy, and the combined effects of her treatment and surgery have left her confined to a wheelchair. “I can’t walk or go to the bathroom alone,” she told the press. Yolanda was her primary caregiver, helping her bathe, get dressed, and prepare her meals. “Now that I don’t have her, everything is difficult. I haven’t eaten well. All I think about is what will happen to her,” she says.

With Yolanda and Jonathan both gone, Xitlali is left without crucial support for the family’s finances. The family has received help from the office of Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles, who has offered to cover part of their rent to prevent Yolanda’s three children from being left homeless. The family has also launched a petition for financial assistance — not for Xitlali’s medical treatment, but to help with the legal battle they are now facing. “With them at risk of being deported, my health is in great danger. I ask the community for help so that I can pay for a lawyer,” says Xitlali.

Support for Yolanda

Yolanda had her first court hearing before a judge on Thursday, marking the start of her case. Her attorney is pushing for the judge to approve her release on bail. Acalin has submitted documents and evidence to the judge proving Xitlali’s dependency on her mother. However, he is not very optimistic, acknowledging that this may not be enough to keep Yolanda in the United States. The situation would be different if Xitlali were a minor, as immigration rules provide for such cases through a procedure known as “cancellation of expulsion.”

While Acalin manages the legal process, a group of local activists and DACA recipients (known as Dreamers) are applying pressure in the streets. “We demand that ICE and the courts recognize the costs of separating a mother from her daughter, especially when this daughter is fighting for her life,” says Flor Martínez, one of the organizers of the demonstration in support of Yolanda, which was held outside the detention center.

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