California Community Leader Reportedly Taken To The Border And Held At a Warehouse Until She Self-Deports

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A California community leader has been reportedly detained and taken to a warehouse near the border until she self-deports

Concretely, Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderon was detained last week, her attorney, Stephano Medina, said.

Medina detailed that "uniformed men in unmarked cars kidnapped Juli, and with her courage and her strength, even though we don't know where Juli is and we don't know when we will find her, Juli has managed to make two phone calls to the family since she's been kidnapped."

The lawyer went on to say that the woman saw she was being followed by two trucks as she was on her way to her janitorial job on June 25. At one point, one truck got in front of her, leading her to pull over hoping they would pass by.

However, she was followed and then armed men with masks on "took her." Medina added that the men did not identify themselves, and that Pelaez Calderon believed they were bounty hunters.

"Juli told us that when she was picked up in this parking lot, she wasn't taken to any Detention Center. She wasn't taken to be processed," Medina added. "Instead, Juli was taken directly from this parking lot to the border at San Ysidro, and there she was presented to an ICE staffer. There, Juli was presented with voluntary self deportation paperwork. She was taken straight from here to the border and pressured to sign self deportation paperwork."

The woman refused to do it, demanding to see a judge and get a lawyer, but was nonetheless taken to a warehouse near the San Ysidro port of entry. She claimed she was not given food, only water, and was kept with both men and women in the warehouse, some of whom had been there for months.

"I don't know how many more days or how much longer it's going to take, but we know that we are going to find her, and when she gets out, Juli is going to share her story," Medina concluded.

The Trump administration is encouraging migrants to self-deport, with Department of Homeland Security announcing in mid June that migrants who voluntarily self-deport won't face daily fines, while those who stay will face fees of up to $1,000 per day.

The message is aimed at migrants with final deportation orders who self-deport through the CBP Home app. They will receive forgiveness of any civil fines or penalties for failing to depart the U.S. earlier, according to Border Report.

DHS announced in May that those who declare they are leaving the country via the CBP Home app can receive free airfare and up to $1,000 stipend once they return to their home country. DHS appears to have added waiving of fines as even more incentive as the agency seeks to remove more undocumented immigrants as a priority goal of the Trump administration.