‘The fight is only beginning’: DACA recipient Karla Toledo released by ICE after paying bail

The DACA recipient whose arrest by federal immigration officers last week sparked protests and community backlash in southern Arizona was released over the holiday weekend.

Karla Toledo, 31, was arrested on May 18 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrived at her home in Tucson. The Tucson resident and influencer who goes by “Karlangas” on social media is well known for her outreach and work with immigrant and low-income families.

Toledo is a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which offers a two-year work permit and authorized stay in the country. Recently, however, beneficiaries of the program have learned that under the Trump administration the permit no longer protects them from deportation.

Following Toledo’s detention, her family, community and local representatives called for her release, posting up outside ICE headquarters in downtown Tucson. U.S. Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) was among the protesters and was able to step inside the processing center to speak with her. Once back outside, she told her mother, who was not allowed to see her daughter, that Toledo was unharmed and in good spirits.

A DHS spokesperson told CALÓ News two days after she was detained that Toledo had entered the U.S. illegally in 2024. However, according to her lawyer, she had left and re-entered the country using advance parole, a travel permit that DACA recipients have used to legally travel.

This charge, however, was not related to the operation that took place the morning she was detained. ICE agents knocked on her door looking for someone else, according to the DHS spokesperson.

As she continues fighting her immigration case, she was released late Friday from Eloy Detention Center, her lawyers and family confirmed to Somos Tucson. She took to social media to address the Tucson community and others who demonstrated support.

“When a person is detained and separated from their family, the entire community suffers. It’s incredible what can happen when we come together,” she wrote in a post on Instagram and asked for time to process her experience and the legal battle ahead of her.

“It’s important to take the time to process all the violence and injustice that is happening and to rest, because the fight is only beginning,” she wrote.