A woman with cancer who says she has lived in the US for about 25 years and had a green card for two years was taken into custody by ICE agents in February in Arizona after returning from Mexico, as reported by Newsweek.
Her name is Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez. She lived in the US for more than 20 years and briefly had law fully permanent resident status, according to a letter sent by Democratic Arizona Representative Yassamin Ansari to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons.
After her February 10, 2025, detention, a federal immigration judge revoked her residency. She is now being held at the Eloy Detention Center.
Her partner, friends, and advocates want her released because of her worsening health and concerns about the facility.
The letter from Ansari comes as the Trump administration pushes a major crackdown on immigration. President Trump has called for the removal of millions of migrants without legal status, a campaign critics say is aggressive. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have drawn criticism over the rise in detentions and deportations. The White House continues to say that anyone living in the country unlawfully is a “criminal.”
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Arbella Márquez has chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Márquez, who lives with her partner Sonia Almaraz, has chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Supporters say she has not seen a cancer specialist since being detained and has lost about 55 pounds while coughing up blood.
ICE and DHS say holding a green card is a “privilege, not a right,” and it can be revoked if laws are broken. Márquez was detained after crossing back into Arizona through the Nogales border, as reported by Az Central.
ICE “kidnapped” Arbella
A petition for her release says ICE “kidnapped” her and that her deportation officer denied release in June, “knowing she could die within those walls.”
“They isolated me in a cage for four hours without telling me what was going on—me being a citizen,” Almaraz told The Arizona Republic. She now fears Márquez could become “the next death in Eloy Detention Center.” Advocates have long described the facility as notorious for poor conditions.
Ansari, who serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, held a press conference at the U.S. Capitol and met Márquez in person last weekend.
“She spoke to me in tears, begging to see an oncologist and telling me that the detention center will merely give her Tylenol and stomach ulcer medicine for cancer,” Ansari said. “Today, I’m using my voice to demand immediate medical action for Yari. She cannot wait one more day to receive the fair and humane treatment she deserves.”
Ansari’s letter to ICE requested an update on Márquez’s medical care, details on how her case is being handled, and the reason for keeping her detained despite her health. She asked for a response within seven days.
Haddy Gassama, senior policy counsel at the ACLU, said, “The federal government is pouring billions into expanding a cruel and unaccountable detention system—erecting tent camps on military bases, remote swamps and deserts, contracting with private prison companies, and hiding behind secrecy. Detaining sick and vulnerable people like Yari, who is battling cancer at Arizona’s Eloy facility, where care is lacking and her life is at stake, is inhumane and must stop.”
Márquez’s legal and medical future is still unclear. At least 16 people have died in custody at Eloy Detention Center since it opened in 1994, including five suicides. The most recent death was reported this past January.
