After Being Denied Entry Last Month, Representative Yassamin Ansari Finally Spoke with Immigrant Detainees in Eloy

After previously being denied access to the Eloy Detention Center last month per new and illegal Homeland Security check in guidelines, Arizona Congressional District (CD) Three Representative Yassamin Ansari, a vocal and active opponent of Trump Fascist White Nationalist Immigration Policy, finally met with a multinational group of inmates at that facility yesterday, August 30, 2025, and reported that conditions for the people, who wear green to signify that they are not criminals, were “horrific,” “dehumanizing,” “racist,” “devastating, and it’s a stain on the humanity of this country.”

After the visit, the Representative held a quick press event outside the detention center, primarily focusing on one of her constituents, a leukemia patient named Arbella “Yari” Rodriguez Marquez, stating:

“The reason I came back today was because I have many constituents who are trapped inside Eloy, who we have been communicating with and have been hearing about the devastating conditions inside. What I heard today was yet again confirmation that there is dehumanizing, racist, unacceptable treatment happening inside the Eloy Detention Center that is run by a private company called Core Civic. A couple of cases that I want to highlight. So the the main person that I was here to speak with today as a woman named Yari. Her case has received some media attention. She is a woman who has leukemia who has been here since February. She has lost 55 pounds and speaking with her today, confirmed to me that the lack of proper medical treatment inside Eloy is unacceptable, and it’s devastating, and it’s a stain on the humanity of this country. She has leukemia. She was diagnosed in 2013. She has numbing. She’s unable to walk. She has bruises all over her body. She was sobbing, telling me her story about how she’s been trying to go speak to the medics inside this facility, and she’s told over and over again that she has a stomach ulcer when she has not even been tested for a stomach ulcer. All she’s getting is some basic pain medication and stomach ulcer medication when the problem is so much worse than that. She’s coughing up blood. She’s vomiting. She says that she is dying, and she’s been told over and over again that she would be able to see a specialist and that has yet to happen. I am demanding that ICE and Core Civic in the Department of Homeland Security give her the attention she needs by letting her go to a doctor and speak with an oncologist and get the actual specialist evaluation that she needs and deserves to stay alive. This is a woman who was a green card holder in our country and story is much longer than this, but the accusations against her are egregious, but beyond that, her only ask right now is to see a specialist, so she doesn’t have to be in debilitating pain each and every day. So we will be following up on her case. We also then were able to speak with more than 20 women. We had a sign up sheet. We were also told that was purposefully removed around the detention center, but thankfully through word of mouth, the women in this facility told each other. The men in this facility told each other. We had 98 people sign up, desperate to speak with us today to share their stories. We got to speak with 23 of the women. These are women. They have different categories of detainees inside. We were explained this in detail by the ICE officers. These women wear green, which means that they have no criminal record. They are Asylum Seekers. They are immigrants. They are refugees. They are, in many cases, people who have fled their home countries fleeing violence, fleeing religious persecution, seeking a better life here in the United States. Inside Eloy, they are being treated like prisoners. All we spoke with women in three different languages in Spanish and English, and in Farsi. There were also Russians. It’s a diverse group of folks. There were folks from Kazakhstan, Iran, Mexico, Cuba, Etc, all of them in unison described horrific stories.”

In reporting by AZ Family, Representative Ansari also said the prisoners were not being given quality water to drink and had to wear used underwear.