PHOENIX — An LGBTQ+ group is calling for the release of a Phoenix woman with leukemia who has been in immigration detention for five months – despite being a legal resident.
Arbella Rodriguez Marquez, a musician and artist known to her friends as Yari, is in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody at the Eloy Detention Center. Her best friend, Sonia Almaraz, said Rodriguez’s health is deteriorating.
“She is not doing good,” she told ABC15. “(She) lost 55 pounds in the last five months. Her body showing spots, bruises, fatigue.”
Rodriguez was denied parole last week, according to Queer Trans Pueblo. And her U.S residency has been stripped, they said.
“She's going to go to court soon to plea as a new asylum,” the group’s Sonix Flores said. “However, that's preposterous, because she's already been a resident.”
The group held a press conference Thursday to call for her immediate release, saying she could die without medical treatment.
“We don't want her to be the next death in there, so we're here to raise our voices to make sure she's liberated,” Flores said.
They’re asking Mayor Kate Gallego to visit Rodriguez and fight for her release.
“See how she's doing, see the conditions in there, and then make a public statement that she supports Yari’s freedom,” Flores said.
'She was doing everything the right way'
Almaraz told ABC15 that Rodriguez has lived in the U.S. for 25 years.
“She's always been in this country legally,” she said. “She has never come into this country illegally.”
She said Rodriguez does not have a criminal record, not even a traffic ticket.
“She was doing everything the right way,” Almaraz said.
Rodriguez is an artist and musician who has played bass in a band and is a DJ. She's also a graphic designer and video editor, Almaraz said.
"She's a hard worker," she said. "She's got a lot to give, a lot to give. She's a sweetheart. She's a very respectful person, always obeying the law."
The two were stopped at the border crossing in Nogales on their way back from a trip to Mexico.
“We were just coming across the border, just like anybody else that goes and visits Mexico," Almaraz said. "And we were just not lucky."
They were immediately separated, and Almaraz, a U.S. citizen, was held for four or five hours, she said. She was never told why she was detained.
“It's just devastating, very devastating,” she said. “You wouldn't expect your own country to treat you like this.”
She didn’t hear from Rodriguez for two days.
“I’m feeling scared, not knowing where Yari’s at. ... The time goes by, and you're stressing and you're freaking out. Like, ‘Where is she at?’ ”
ABC15 reached out ICE for comment on Rodriguez’s case but received an out-of-the-office message.
Almaraz remains haunted by the stop that led to Rodriguez’s detainment.
“Confused. Very confused,” she said. “Still questioning myself. Why? What did I do wrong?”
She and Rodriguez have been inseparable for 13 years, Almaraz said. She visits Rodriguez every Sunday.
“She's not alone,” she said. “I'm here and always will be.”
