ICE Releases Burnsville Asylum Seeker with Life-Threatening Condition
Andrea Pedro Francisco was freed after four months in ICE custody, where medical experts said delaying ovarian cyst surgery could threaten her fertility.
- On Wednesday, 23-year-old Andrea Pedro Francisco was released from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody in El Paso after four months of detention without necessary surgery for a painful ovarian cyst.
- Federal agents detained Pedro Francisco in Minnesota on February 5 during Operation Metro Surge, transferring her to Camp East Montana where staff rushed her to the hospital two days later for debilitating pain.
- Nine experts reviewing more than 200 pages of her medical records confirmed urgent surgery was necessary to prevent infertility, while the American Civil Liberties Union sued, arguing conditions at the facility constitute "unconstitutional punishment."
- U.S. Sen. Tina Smith and Rep. Angie Craig secured her release after contacting senior Department of Homeland Security officials; Craig stated, "Andrea didn't deserve to be detained in the first place, and she certainly didn't deserve to be denied the care that she desperately needed for months."
- At least 18 people have died in ICE custody this year, with nearly a third in Texas, as Pedro Francisco returns to Minnesota to continue her asylum case after fleeing Guatemala in 2019.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Sen. Tina Smith announces woman in need of medical care to be released from ICE detention
WASHINGTON, N.D. (KVRR) — On Thursday, June 4, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (DFL) announced successfully securing the release of Andrea Pedro-Francisco from a U. S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. Francisco was detained by ICE during Operation Metro Surge, and says she is in need of dire and immediate medical attention. Smith’s office says Francisco came to the United States, from Guatemala, to seek asylum and has no criminal re…
A 23-year-old Guatemalan woman in immigration detention who was denied surgery for four months to remove a painful ovarian cyst was released earlier this week, her lawyers said. Andrea Pedro Francisco crossed the border between Mexico and the United States in 2019 with her mother seeking asylum and had lived in Minnesota since. In February, days before the doctors scheduled her for urgent surgery to remove an ovary cyst about the size of a lime,…
Duluth News Tribune
ICE releases Burnsville asylum seeker with life-threatening condition
A Burnsville woman who has been in ICE custody for about four months without access to potentially life-saving surgery was released from detention on Wednesday. Andrea Pedro-Francisco, 23, is an asylum seeker originally from Guatemala who has lived in Burnsville with her family since 2019. She was detained by immigration agents in early February on her way to work and was sent to a detention center in El Paso, Texas, just days before she was sch…
Minnesota woman with ovarian cyst released by ICE in El Paso
This story was originally published by El Paso Matters. Subscribe to their newsletter here. After nearly four months in Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention in El Paso while in need of surgery for an ovarian cyst, a 23-year-old Minnesota woman originally from Guatemala has been released. Andrea Pedro Francisco said ICE officials told her Wednesday that she would be freed, then released her later that day. “It was a shock, it surprised m…
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