Family of South LA woman detained by immigration agents still doesn't know her whereabouts

SOUTH LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- It has been five days since Yuriana "Yuli" Calderon was picked up by unidentified federal agents, and her family still does not know where she is. They are pleading for information about her.

They said Yuli was driving to work last Wednesday when she noticed a couple of vehicles following her. That's when she pulled into a parking lot at Alameda and 14th streets in South Los Angeles.

"We ask for our authorities to not close our eyes to our families. This is not the only family going through this. There's plenty of families going through this nightmare right now where we don't know where our relatives, where our loved ones are at this moment," said Sergio Vargas, who was interpreting for Yuli's friend, Lupita Gonzalez.

On Monday afternoon, Yuli's daughters said they received a text from a phone number they didn't recognize. They didn't want to talk on camera but the text said they were being detained in a warehouse in South Orange County.

Those who know Yuli say the mother of three has been living in the U.S. for over 20 years.

Immigrants' rights groups and lawyers are trying to figure out where Yuli is, as well as many others who were picked up in immigration raids in recent weeks.

"What has happened is that we have a lot of people for whom we don't have a location. So everything about what's happening right now is absolutely different than what we've ever experienced in the past, including what we are just talking about right now," said immigrants' rights advocate Angelica Salas.

Yuli, according to the family, has made two phone calls to them. One Thursday morning after she was detained and another on Friday. She said she was given access to a phone.

"Yuli was taken directly from this parking lot to the border at San Ysidro, and there she was presented to an ICE staffer. There, Yuli was presented with voluntary self deportation paperwork," said Stephano Medina, the family's attorney.

The family said Yuli has health issues and hasn't taken any of her medications in days.