Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo, an Arizona Great-Grandmother, Has Been in ICE Detention for 10 Months

Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo, 71, has been held inside the Eloy Detention Center for more than 10 months after ICE picked her up on July 15, 2025, while she was working as a dishwasher at the Colt Grill in Cottonwood, Arizona — one of 22 undocumented workers swept up in the raid. On May 16, 2026, an immigration judge at Eloy ordered her deported to Mexico; she has filed an appeal with the Board of Immigration Appeals. Tapia Cornejo’s 71-year-old mother has lived in Cottonwood for 25 years; her four U.S.-resident children, 18 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild remain in the U.S.