Free Republic

An illegal immigrant and mother was arrested for staging a fake “kidnapping” — where bounty hunters took her at gunpoint and tried forcing her to self-deport at a fast-food restaurant — to scam people and “smear federal law enforcement.” Yuriana Julia “Juli” Pelaez Calderon, 41, was charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers over the elaborate scheme on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice. “Dangerous rhetoric that ICE agents are ‘kidnapping’ illegal immigrants is being recklessly peddled by politicians and echoed in the media to inflame the public and discredit our courageous federal agents,” US Attorney...

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday announced charges against a 41-year-old undocumented mother from South Los Angeles, accusing her of orchestrating a fake kidnapping by federal immigration agents to generate sympathy and solicit donations. Yuriana Julia “Juli” Pelaez Calderon is charged with conspiracy and making false statements to federal officers. On June 30, Calderon’s family and attorney held a news conference claiming she had been taken from a fast-food restaurant parking lot in downtown Los Angeles, driven to the U.S.-Mexico border, and told to self-deport. At the same time, her daughter launched a GoFundMe campaign, and federal agents began...