Los Angeles/Julia Benítez, a 79-year-old Cuban immigrant known as grandmotherwas released by US immigration authorities after spending nine months detained in a prison in Arizona, where her physical and mental health deteriorated, reported this Friday Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva, who advocated for her freedom.
Benítez was released from the Eloy Detention Center on Thursday night after her worsening condition became public. He had crossed the US-Mexico border in May 2025 and surrendered to Border Patrol agents seeking asylum.
Her family had hoped she would be released so she could present her case, but President Donald Trump’s administration imposed a zero-release policy for asylum seekers who enter the country irregularly.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) denied him a bond hearing before a judge, and his case was brought to light by a report in the Arizona Daily Star newspaper.
The Cuban case raises doubts about how many immigrants with similar situations remain in federal detention
According to her family and colleagues in the detention center, the woman suffered a significant physical and cognitive deterioration in these nine months, with signs of advanced dementia and mobility problems that forced her to use a wheelchair.
Benítez’s asylum request was denied last year due to lack of evidence, and his lawyer, based in Florida, is appealing the decision, which would have stopped his deportation, according to the newspaper.
Grijalva, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona who advocated for Benítez’s case, applauded that she had been freed and can reunite with her daughter and grandchildren, who reside in Florida.
However, he warned that the Cuban case raises doubts about how many immigrants with similar situations remain in federal detention.
“This administration has the authority to exercise discretion and grant compassionate parole on a case-by-case basis to elderly and disabled people. Instead, it is choosing a cruel and restrictive approach that unnecessarily keeps medically vulnerable people in detention,” the congresswoman said in a statement.
