Senator Mark Kelly of Arizona made a personal trip to the Eloy Detention Center to visit two of his constituents, Kelly Yu and Maria Pelaez, who are currently being held in ICE custody. Kelly Yu, a Peoria business owner who came to the U.S. seeking asylum in 2004, has made a life for herself here, opening a restaurant and raising a family. Despite being married to a U.S. citizen and having a child who is a college student, Yu was detained during a routine check-in with ICE. Pelaez, with two decades of life in the States and no criminal record, the grandmother of a toddler, and mother to an active-duty U.S. Marine, remains in custody despite a judge's decision to grant bond, as reported by the Senator Mark Kelly's Office.
During his visit, Senator Kelly met with both detainees and spoke with ICE officials, receiving a tour of the facility. In response to what he witnessed, Senator Kelly said, “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,” according to the official press release from the Senator Mark Kelly's Office. He expressed emotional resonance with the stories he heard, especially moved by Pelaez's pride in her son's military service.
Kelly is working to highlight problems in the immigration system by getting involved in Yu’s and Pelaez’s cases. He’s asking ICE for answers about how they handle detentions and pushing for more transparency at facilities like Eloy. According to the Senator Mark Kelly's Office press release, he’s committed to fighting for these individuals and their families and wants to reform a system he believes unfairly breaks up communities.
In the months leading up to his visit, Senator Kelly, alongside other Arizona Democrats, reached out to the Trump administration and ICE for clarity on initiatives focusing on the arrest of immigrants at immigration court hearings, which diverted resources away from targeting violent criminals, and in doing so questioned the allocation of the agency's resources. In July, Kelly further pursued this accountability by demanding an explanation from Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons about the conduct of ICE agents, as mentioned in the Senator Mark Kelly's Office press release.
The ongoing situation at the Eloy Detention Center, as well as the broader implications for immigration policy and enforcement, remain a focus for Senator Kelly. The senator has promised to keep pushing for answers and reforms to ensure fair treatment for those within the immigration system and to address the needs of Arizona's communities affected by current policies.
