Federal immigration authorities have removed a GPS ankle monitoring device from a 71-year-old great-grandmother who was recently released from ICE custody after being held in an immigration detention facility in Eloy for over 10 months.
Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was also told she doesn't have to check in with ICE officials again for another year, according to her daughter, Carina Cardenas, 31, a nurse in Cottonwood.
"She was in disbelief but excited" at what appears to be an apparent demonstration of humanitarian consideration, Cardenas said.
Tapia Cornejo, who has lived in the U.S. for over 25 years, was released suddenly from Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on May 29.
Tapia Cornejo was released the day after The Arizona Republic published a story about her deteriorating health at the Eloy Detention Center, where she had been held for over 10 months fighting her deportation to Mexico. Tapia Cornejo had been held at the detention facility since she was arrested while washing dishes during an immigration raid at the Colt Grill restaurant in Cottonwood in July 2025.
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Until her sudden release, ICE officials had refused several requests by family members and religious leaders to release her on humanitarian grounds while she fought her deportation, considering her age, her many years of living in the United States, her declining memory, and hearing difficulties.
Since her release, Tapia Cornejo has been living with her large extended family in Cottonwood, including some of her 18 grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.
She decided to have family members drive her to the ICE Field Office in Phoenix on June 3 to make sure she was complying with all of the conditions of her release, Cardenas said. That is when ICE officials unexpectedly removed the GPS monitor, Cardenas said.
Tapia Cornejo had a June 25 appointment to check in at the ICE Field Office in Phoenix, Cardenas said. But the day her GPS monitor was removed, the official who removed the device suggested she come back the following week to make sure ICE officials knew it had been removed.
Cardenas said she drove Tapia Cornejo back to the ICE Field Office in Phoenix on June 8, which is when ICE officials told her she didn't have to return again for an immigration check-in until June of 2027.
In this May 2026 file phot, Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo (2nd from left) is reunited with her daughter, Maria Janet Cardena at a Phoenix church after being released from an ICE detention center in Eloy. She no longer has to wearing a GPS monitor, the family said.
"Honestly, I don't know what changed," Cardenas said, but she noted her mother is deeply religious.
"My mom is a big believer of God, and so I think that's part of it. And I think the other part that has helped a lot was" The Republic article, "and then all the people that helped with her case."
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations will not comment on the specific factors that led to Tapia Cornejo's release from ICE custody, spokesman Fernando Burgos said in a written statement.
"ICE ERO makes detention/release decisions daily, considering many factors, including statutory eligibility, danger to persons or property, and flight risk; as well as operational/administrative concerns," the statement said.
The statement noted that Maria Cristina Tapia Cornejo was first encountered at the Nogales port of entry around Sept. 5, 2000, attempting to enter the U.S. by presenting a visa that did not belong to her.
She was removed to Mexico that same day, the statement said. At some point thereafter, Tapia Cornejo re-entered the United States without admission or parole, a crime, Burgos said in the statement.
ICE encountered her on July 15, 2025, during the immigration raid at the Colt Grill in Cottonwood. ICE detained her and ultimately referred her case to the immigration court in Eloy. In January, an immigration judge ordered her deported. She has filed an appeal, which is pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.
Cardenas said she has found her mother walking around the house in the middle of the night after spending more than 10 months in ICE detention.
"She's readjusting," Cardenas said. "There's times that it's like two in the morning, four in the morning, and she'll be up and walking and I'll be like, 'Hey mom. It's bedtime. What are you doing up?' And she's like, 'I got used to (it). They would wake us up at certain times and we would have to walk around and it's still like engraved in my head."
Cardenas said she also had to take Tapia Cornejo to the hospital after she rolled off the bed and fell on the floor in the middle of the night. She suffered a bruised rib.
"I feel like she's still like recovering because I mean it's hard going from like having a life to then not having a life and then being put back into the real world. I think everything takes time to adjust," Cardenas said.
