Mom of 3 'abducted' at gunpoint by 'bounty hunters' in South LA, family says

The Brief A South Los Angeles community activist, Yuriana Juliana "Juli" Pelaez Calderon, was reportedly "abducted" by men in an unmarked car on June 25. Community leaders are demanding information on her whereabouts and access to an attorney, stating outrage over her detention. Calderon was able to make a phone call, indicating she is in an unknown warehouse with many others, and believes her captors are bounty hunters.

Community leaders and loved ones of a local activist who was "abducted" by men at gunpoint in an unmarked car on her way to work in South Los Angeles are demanding information on her whereabouts.

Yuriana Juliana "Juli" Pelaez Calderon was detained on June 25.

According to the family's lawyer with Immigrant Defenders Law Center, Calderon was taken at gunpoint by two men in unmarked cars. During a phone call, she was able to share with her family that she was not taken to a detention center or processed. Instead, she said she was taken to the border at San Ysidro, where she was presented with self-deportation paperwork.

"But when Juli refused to sign the paperwork, when Juli demanded to see a judge, when Juli demanded to speak to an attorney, she was punished," the attorney said. "She was taken back to an unmarked van along with other travelers who were also insisting on their rights, and taken to a warehouse where she was only given water. A warehouse where she was not given food. A warehouse, where men and women were held together. A warehouse without any law enforcement employee, without any official there present," he added.

Calderon told her family she is being held at the warehouse until she agrees to sign the voluntary self-deportation paperwork.

Another attorney with IDLC said Calderon remains absent from the ICE locator. "We don't know where she is now, if she is in ICE custody or CBP custody, or in a warehouse held by vigilantes," he said. "But we do know that this is not how our country is supposed to function."

The mother of three, who has lived in South Los Angeles for more than 20 years, is a member of the community organization Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment.

SUGGESTED: 4th of July celebrations across Southern California canceled over immigration raids

Calderon has since been able to make two phone calls to her family, but her whereabouts remain unknown.

"Community leaders are outraged by yet another abduction conducted by men in an unmarked car, with unknown affiliations," organizers said. "The group is demanding to know where Juli is and demanding that she be allowed to meet with her attorney."

"Juli was able to make a phone call late Friday and told her family that: She is in a warehouse, but she does not know the location; She believes that the people who picked her up are bounty hunters; There are many others being held where she is being held."

During a press conference Monday, friends and family of Calderon gathered together and called on authorities "to not close your eyes to our families."

"Imagine a woman talking to her daughter on the phone telling her that she's being followed by two cars or two trucks… she feel unsafe and what does she do? She follows what she's been told - go to a place where there's light so you can feel safe, and then just be abducted," a colleague who has known Calderon for over 20 years said.

"There are so many of our families that we can not tell them where their family member is, and that's what's happening to this family member. I need us to understand that when we say ‘abducted’ and ‘disappeared’ we don't know if it's ICE, if these are contractors, private contractors… this has to stop," she added.