The Laken Riley Act is facilitating a woman’s ICE detention. Now she’s fighting two cases from Eloy

A Tucson resident caught between the criminal justice and immigration systems is facing a reality made possible by a law passed in January 2025, which mandates the detention and prioritizes the deportation of migrants accused of certain criminal activity, regardless of whether that leads to an actual conviction.

Jessica Corrales-Duarte, a 33-year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient, has been fighting both of her cases from Eloy Detention Center for nearly five months.

She faces shoplifting charges by the Pima County Attorney's Office (PCAO), a case that cannot be resolved without her being present in court. She also faces deportation after her DACA status was terminated early this year. The result of the former will directly impact the outcome of the latter.

However, according to her lawyer and the attorney’s office, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “authorities appear to be interfering” with the local criminal justice system and are refusing to allow her to have her day in court — an action that could lead to her deportation.

“They can't convict her because they can't bring her to court, but they can certainly deport her on accusations alone,” Catherine Austin, Corrales-Duarte’s criminal attorney, told CALÓ News. 

ICE is using the criminal charges — which her attorney says are "erroneous" — to fast-track her deportation under the Laken Riley Act.

Passed last January, days before President Donald Trump returned to the White House, the federal law requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain undocumented immigrants who are accused of committing property-related or violent offenses. Under the act, a person need not be convicted of any crime to be forced into mandatory detention.

Now, PCAO prosecutors are floating the idea of holding a virtual trial with Corrales-Duarte from Eloy in order to move her criminal case along. But time is not on her side, as her immigration court case is set to be heard in two weeks.

“ICE is operating outside of the rule of law,” Austin said. “Their detention authority does not supersede the Constitution, which gives Jessica constitutional rights, including to face her accuser, which means that she must be present in Pima County to resolve her case.”

Unable to have her day in court

According to her lawyer, Corrales-Duarte was a waitress at Jerry Bob's in the Tucson Spectrum Plaza and would regularly visit the nearby Ulta Beauty store during her work breaks. 

In August 2025, the beauty retailer accused her of shoplifting thousands of dollars over the course of several days, something she and her attorney vehemently deny. 

What her attorney alleges, through her own private investigator, is that store employees saw Corrales-Duarte coming in and out of the store on multiple days and accused her of the loss report for the entire day, amounting to over $5,000, which carries a felony charge.

Austin went to the same Ulta Beauty store and collected all of the items they’re accusing Corrales-Duarte of stealing on one particular day, including several large perfume bottles, lipsticks and skincare products.

“This is a woman who walks in the store with no purse and no pockets and walks out ten minutes later,” Austin said. “This is how much they are alleging that she stole in ten minutes.” 

Austin added that the store’s evidence and reports conflict with one another, stating that there were days when they accused Corrales-Duarte of stealing even when she did not enter the shop — no witnesses and nothing on the surveillance camera to prove she was there. 

The charges were filed by PCAO in September and on Jan. 15, 2026, ICE detained her and transported her to Eloy Detention Center, where she’s been held since as she tries to fight both her criminal and immigration case. 

Her DACA status was terminated on Jan. 9, according to Fernando Burgos, an ICE spokesperson.

“Corrales-Duarte does not possess any immigration documents that allow her to enter, reside or remain in the United States legally,” Burgos said in an email to CALÓ News on Friday. 

“The Tucson Police Department arrested Corrales-Duarte on felony charges for shoplifting and theft. Claims by her attorney that ICE is not releasing her for her court appearanceare false; ICE will release Corrales-Duarte under writ to Pima County so she can appear for her trial.”

However, at a hearing on Friday, both the prosecution and Austin acknowledged that on Wednesday night — two days before the hearing — the agency notified PCAO that it was no longer honoring that writ.

"Once again, federal immigration authorities appear to be interfering with the proper resolution of a state criminal case,” the attorney’s office said in a statement. “As we have proven, we don't tolerate this federal administration interfering with our ability to seek justice for victims and appropriate resolutions for defendants. As this is a pending case, we will update as the rules allow us to, down the road."

Austin and prosecutors are racing to hold a trial and reach a decision before June 25, the date of her final immigration court hearing.

Without having her day in criminal court, the police report filed in the shoplifting case will be used by the immigration judge as reliable evidence to convict and order her deportation. The immigration judge would need legal documentation that would disprove the police report, but that would require Corrales-Duarte to be present at her trial to defend herself.

“(Police reports) are treated in immigration court as inherently reliable documents that would never fly in a criminal court,” Austin said. “But in immigration court, a judge can treat these things as essentially fact, meaning that the presumption is that they're true.”

‘Like anyone else in this country, she is entitled to due process’

During Friday’s hearing, Corrales-Duarte’s family filled the audience. Her husband, two daughters, mother, in-laws and other family members spoke about Corrales-Duarte as an angel. She has missed many milestones with her family, including her daughters' middle-school graduations.

Corrales-Duarte crossed into the U.S. at a port of entry with her uncle when she was two years old. She reunited with her mother, who obtained authorized immigration status through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA), a federal law that provides protection, such as immigration relief, to survivors of domestic violence. She was fleeing domestic and cartel violence. 

The Tucson resident held temporary protected status under DACA until January of this year, terminated just six days before she was detained by ICE.

Her case has drawn criticism from local leaders and state representatives.

“Like anyone else in this country, she is entitled to due process and to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty,” Congresswoman Adelita Grijalva said in a statement. “However, there is a real possibility that she will be deported without ever getting her day in court. That is both cruel and fundamentally unjust. This is a direct consequence of the Laken Riley Act, where a mere accusation — not a conviction — of a minor offense is enough to trigger deportation.”

What Corrales-Duarte needs to qualify for a cancellation of removal, according to Austin, is a counter-narrative that would bring the facts of her case to light and prove that she has "good moral character,” such as a trial or a plea deal, which PCAO has already offered. 

However, that process cannot be done in absentia, meaning without Corrales-Duarte being present. Her next hearing is set for June 23.

“The only thing that can [prevent her deportation] is her coming to Pima County to get a legal record that accurately reflects this is a simple shoplifting case for which she has been punished enough,” Austin said.

If the prosecutors dismissed the case — which they’ve said they wouldn't — Corrales-Duarte could be released from ICE custody, as the charges are the primary reason why she remains in Eloy, her lawyer said. Once out, she would have two years to fight her deportation case from home.

“I am calling on federal authorities to release Jessica from detention, reunite her with her family, and halt all deportation proceedings,” Grijalva said. “No mother who has spent nearly her entire life in this country should be torn away from her children.”

Susan Barnett is an independent journalist in southern Arizona covering the immigrant and Latine community. She is a recent graduate from the University of Arizona, where she received her Master of Arts in Bilingual Journalism. She previously worked at La Estrella de Tucson and co-founded Tucson Spotlight.