\u201cShe just told me that the pain extends all the way to her back now. And that when she has her period, which usually lasts three days, it\u2019s lasting 10 days. So that\u2019s part of the concern, is that she\u2019s going to start bleeding out from the cyst,\u201d said Ruby Powers, a Houston immigration attorney who is representing Pedro Francisco. Powers visited the woman on Friday at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement processing center near El Paso International Airport.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: El Paso leaders want to limit ICE detention centers. Here are 6 things to know<\/a><\/p>\n Pedro Francisco, who is from Guatemala, came with her mother to the United States without authorization in 2019, when she was 16. She has not been ordered deported and has a pending asylum claim, based on violence faced by women and Indigenous people in her home country, Powers said.<\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t have a criminal record, her attorney said.<\/p>\n \u201cShe plays instruments for her church and is a strong believer. And she cares for her siblings and she\u2019s very dedicated to her family, I think almost sacrificing her education and her plans and goals to be a dutiful daughter,\u201d Powers said.<\/p>\n Pedro Francisco was detained by ICE during the Trump administration\u2019s controversial enforcement efforts in Minnesota, and quickly brought to El Paso<\/a>.<\/p>\n ICE said in a statement that Pedro Francisco and other detainees receive \u201ccomprehensive medical care, including access to vaccines, medical, dental, and mental health services, as well as medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.\u201d<\/p>\n SEE ALSO: 298 days: Iranian asylum seeker released after judge rules ICE violated his rights<\/a><\/p>\n Powers said Pedro Francisco has received poor medical treatment in ICE custody \u2013 first at Camp East Montana at Fort Bliss<\/a> and now at the El Paso processing center.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re like, why are you telling people you\u2019re not getting treatment?\u201d Powers said of health care providers at the processing center. \u201cAnd they keep telling her she doesn\u2019t have a cyst. They do ultrasounds and say there\u2019s nothing there, and they give her constipation medication. She takes the medication and she still has the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n In its statement to the media, ICE acknowledged that Pedro Francisco has an ovarian cyst. Such cysts usually can be removed by laparoscopic surgery. Delaying surgery increases the risks if the cyst ruptures, according to medical literature,\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSince arriving at Camp East Montana, she has been seen by medical staff on-site seven times, transported to an area emergency room once, and evaluated three times at a local behavioral health center. She was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst during her emergency room visit, for which she received pain medication and was returned to Camp East Montana,\u201d ICE said in the statement, which it has sent to multiple media organizations in recent weeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n In extreme cases, ruptured cysts can be fatal. Rep. Angie Craig, a Minnesota Democrat whose district includes Pedro Francisco\u2019s hometown of Burnsville, has called her continuing detention \u201ca life or death situation.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement to El Paso Matters, Craig sharply criticized ICE\u2019s treatment of Pedro Francisco.<\/p>\n \u201cFor over a month, my office has gone back and forth with ICE officials about Andrea\u2019s condition. We\u2019ve been ignored, put off, and lied to about the treatment she has received while in detention,\u201d Craig said.<\/p>\n Pedro Francisco was moved from Camp East Montana to ICE\u2019s El Paso processing center on March 20. The Fort Bliss facility was built quickly in 2025 and three detainees died there<\/a> between December and February. The processing center opened in 1967.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were told it was \u2018for her medical.\u2019 No further explanation was provided,\u201d said Asra Syed, an attorney who also has represented Pedro Francisco.<\/p>\n When Powers met Friday with Pedro Francisco, she was joined by two Minnesota pastors who were visiting El Paso as part of an ecumenical group to learn more about immigration issues. Her client was moved by the opportunity to pray with the pastors, Powers said.<\/p>\n Deb White, a member of the Moorhead, Minnesota, City Council was part of the ecumenical group. She went to the ICE processing center and spoke with the pastors after their visit.<\/p>\n \u201cI know that just seeing her and hearing how she\u2019s doing and knowing that she\u2019s not getting the medical care that she urgently needs, it\u2019s really heartbreaking and hard to believe that this is happening in the United States,\u201d White said.<\/p>\n Powers has asked ICE to release Pedro Francisco on humanitarian parole, which is a discretionary power the agency has for detainees facing medical issues. She said she hasn\u2019t received a response, and ICE didn\u2019t respond to El Paso Matters\u2019 questions about the request.<\/p>\n Humanitarian parole is likely Pedro Francisco\u2019s only hope for release.<\/p>\n She filed for a writ of habeas corpus in federal court on Feb. 13, arguing that indefinite detention was illegal.<\/p>\n U.S. District Judge Leon Schydlower of El Paso denied her request on April 2, citing a February ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals <\/a>that allowed indefinite detention for people detained in the interior of the United States after entering the country illegally.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Andrea-guitar.jpg\")
Andrea Pedro Francisco tries out a guitar at a Minnesota music store. Before being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement Feb. 5, she played guitar for services at her church. (Photo courtesy of her family)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Andrea-park.jpg\")
Andrea Pedro Francisco poses in front of \u201cSpoonbridge and Cherry,\u201d an artwork at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. (Photo courtesy of her family)<\/p>\n