{"id":383275,"date":"2026-08-28T05:42:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:42:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383275\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T05:42:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T05:42:22","slug":"viral-florida-hospital-arrest-leads-to-ecuador-self-deportation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/383275\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral Florida hospital arrest leads to Ecuador self deportation"},"content":{"rendered":"

KISSIMMEE, Fla. \u2014 A Kissimmee mother and daughter seen handcuffed in a viral video<\/a> at a Florida hospital have now self-deported to Ecuador.<\/p>\n

39-year-old Grace Calero said she made the decision with her 19-year-old daughter\u2019s health in mind after the two were arrested on an ICE hold following a car crash. <\/p>\n

Calero said returning to Ecuador also means returning to the country they fled because of death threats.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, from a safe place in Ecuador, Calero told Channel 9 she prayed on it before signing the voluntary departure order. She flew back to Ecuador with her daughter on Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Despite having no criminal history or state charges, Polk County deputies arrested both women on federal ICE detainers on August 20th.<\/p>\n

The Sheriff\u2019s Office said they were involved in a two-car crash. According to the Sheriff\u2019s office, the investigation that followed revealed they had overstayed their visas and were in the country illegally.<\/p>\n

But according to their attorney, both women had pending asylum claims, which they filed before their visas expired, which allowed them to remain in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe had a social security number, she\u2019s got a work permit, she has an active asylum process, and the great state of Florida gave her a driver\u2019s license. So, it\u2019s pretty contradicting that the state of Florida along with ICE are calling her and her daughter illegal,\u201d said the family attorney, Phillip Arroyo. <\/p>\n

Calero told Channel 9 she would have fought to stay in the U.S. if her daughter Giulianna Carriel wasn\u2019t also jailed. <\/p>\n

After the crash, Carriel was arrested while still in her hospital gown. According to the family, she has epilepsy and suffered a seizure while deputies were inside of her hospital room investigating.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know that if my daughter in the hospital has an epilepsy attack, what could happen inside of the jail,\u201d said Calero.<\/p>\n

Calero told Channel 9 she essentially traded a Florida jail cell for another prison. <\/p>\n

Calero while in Ecuador said she worked for a marketing company that worked to empower women. She said both she and her daughter received threats before they left Ecuador three years ago. <\/p>\n

Now back in Ecuador, the family is terrified someone may make good on those threats. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in my home, like a jail. I have to be inside because I\u2019m afraid what will happen,\u201d said Calero. <\/p>\n

Calero told Channel 9 she did everything in her power to follow the legal process for Asylum seekers including staying in Florida for all three years waiting for an interview with United States Citizenship and Immigration Services.<\/p>\n

She said her life changed in an instant after someone else crashed into her car.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy life changed in one week. Everything changed for my daughter, for me. It\u2019s crazy,\u201d said Calero, \u201cNow I\u2019m just trying to recover.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calero said she is unsure what is next for her and her daughter. They are both continuing to receive treatment in Ecuador for injuries sustained in the car crash.<\/p>\n

We reached out to ICE for comment and requested an interview with Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. A spokesperson told us he was not interested in an interview but provided the following statement about the case. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of a crash investigation on Thursday, deputies went to the local hospital to speak with the occupants of one of the vehicles. As the deputies were obtaining information from those involved, it was discovered that the driver is in the United States illegally from Ecuador after overstaying an expired visa by several years. Deputies then discovered that the adult daughter of the driver who had also been involved in the crash, was also in the country illegally, also on a multi-year expired visa. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued detainers for both women, and after the women were discharged from the hospital, they were taken into custody and transported to the Polk County Jail.\u201d <\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here<\/a> to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.<\/p>\n

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TOP STORIES FROM WFTV CHANNEL 9<\/p>\n

\u00a92026 Cox Media Group<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KISSIMMEE, Fla. \u2014 A Kissimmee mother and daughter seen handcuffed in a viral video at a Florida hospital…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":383276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61203,70889,28,30,29,75104,153688,17807,1877,153689,1975,634,115,25415,4542,30873,628,1045],"class_list":["post-383275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-arroyo","tag-ecuador","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-grace","tag-grace_calero","tag-greg","tag-ice","tag-juliana","tag-kissimmee","tag-local","tag-news","tag-pope","tag-sabrina","tag-sabrina_maggiore","tag-us","tag-video"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}