KISSIMMEE, Florida — A Kissimmee mother and daughter whose hospital arrest went viral have returned to Ecuador after a car crash led to federal immigration detainers, a jail stay and a decision the mother says she made largely because she feared for her daughter’s health.
“My life changed in one week. Everything changed for my daughter, for me. It’s crazy,” 39-year-old Grace Calero told WFTV Channel 9 after returning to Ecuador with her 19-year-old daughter, Giulianna Carriel. “Now I’m just trying to recover.”
Calero told the station she signed a voluntary departure order after praying about the decision. Mother and daughter flew to Ecuador on Tuesday, Aug. 25, five days after Polk County deputies took them into custody on federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainers.
The case drew national attention because the arrests followed a traffic crash and unfolded at a Central Florida hospital, where video showed an emotional Carriel in a hospital gown as her mother was handcuffed.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office and the family, however, have offered sharply different descriptions of the women’s immigration circumstances.
A car crash led deputies to the hospital
The encounter began Aug. 20 after Calero and Carriel were involved in a two-vehicle crash.
According to a statement from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office reported by WFTV, deputies went to the hospital as part of their investigation into the crash.
The sheriff’s office said deputies determined that Calero, an Ecuadorian national, had overstayed an expired visa by several years. Deputies said they subsequently determined that her adult daughter had also overstayed her visa.
ICE then issued detainers for both women, according to the sheriff’s office.
The agency said the women were taken into custody after being discharged from the hospital and transported to the Polk County Jail.
WFTV reported that arrest affidavits showed both women had been living in Kissimmee and had no prior criminal histories or gang affiliations. The sheriff’s office also said neither woman was arrested as part of a state criminal investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security separately told CNN that both women had initially entered the United States legally but allegedly remained beyond their authorized periods of admission.
Family attorney disputes how their status was characterized
The family and its attorney dispute the suggestion that the women simply had no immigration process underway.
Attorney Phillip Arroyo told WFTV that Calero had a Social Security number, a work permit, a Florida driver’s license and an active asylum case.
“She had a social security number, she’s got a work permit, she has an active asylum process, and the great state of Florida gave her a driver’s license,” Arroyo said.
He called it contradictory for authorities to characterize Calero and her daughter as being in the country illegally.
Earlier reporting showed the dispute was unresolved publicly. The family said Calero had a pending asylum claim and work authorization and said Carriel had immigration documentation valid into 2030. CNN reported that it verified the fundraising page as belonging to the family but could not independently verify the immigration claims contained in it.
WFTV likewise reported earlier in the case that it had sought documentation concerning the women’s status but had not independently verified the competing claims at that point.
Viral hospital video put the case in the spotlight
Video recorded during the hospital encounter spread widely online.
The footage showed Calero being handcuffed while her daughter, still in a hospital bed and wearing a hospital gown, became visibly distressed.
Family members say Carriel has epilepsy and suffered a seizure during the encounter. CNN reported that Carriel’s aunt said she personally witnessed the seizure, but the medical details were based on the family’s account.
Calero told WFTV that her daughter’s health became central to her decision not to continue fighting her immigration case while detained.
“I know that if my daughter in the hospital has an epilepsy attack, what could happen inside of the jail,” Calero said.
The hospital, HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital, said in a statement provided to WFTV that its emergency department treats patients regardless of immigration status and that hospitals must comply with applicable laws governing interactions with verified law enforcement officers.
“Our focus and priority always is taking care of every patient who comes through our emergency room doors regardless of immigration status,” the hospital said.
Back in Ecuador, mother says she is still afraid
Leaving detention did not necessarily mean returning to a place where Calero says she feels safe.
She told WFTV that she and her daughter originally left Ecuador after receiving threats. Now that they have returned, Calero said she fears what could happen there.
“I’m in my home, like a jail,” she said. “I have to be inside because I’m afraid what will happen.”
Calero said she would have attempted to remain in the United States and contest her case if her daughter had not also been jailed.
Their return marks a dramatic end to a sequence of events that began with an ordinary drive in Central Florida: a crash, an ambulance trip to a hospital, questions about immigration status, ICE detainers and a viral video seen far beyond Kissimmee.
The legal dispute surrounding their immigration circumstances may continue through their attorney, but Calero told WFTV that her immediate concern is recovery.
Both she and her daughter were continuing to receive treatment in Ecuador for injuries from the crash, and Calero said she did not yet know what would come next.
For now, she said, one week changed nearly everything.
