Polk County deputies and ICE detained injured Ecuadorian mother and daughter at Florida hospital, refusing to show a warrant

On August 21, 2026, Polk County Sheriff's deputies and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents removed Grace Stephanie Calero Cabanilla, 39, and her daughter Giulianna Mía Carriel Calero, 19, in handcuffs from HCA Florida Poinciana Hospital in Kissimmee, one day after a car crash at Marigold Avenue and Sheldrake Road in Poinciana left both women hospitalized. Another driver crossed into their lane and struck their car, which rolled over; Calero Cabanilla was treated for neck, back and arm injuries and fitted with a neck brace, and Carriel Calero was treated for shock.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office operates under a federal 287(g) agreement that trains local deputies to perform immigration-enforcement functions. A deputy questioned Calero Cabanilla about her immigration status while she was still receiving treatment; deputies then contacted ICE Officer Joel Jean, who confirmed civil immigration warrants for both women. ICE lodged detainers describing them as "illegal aliens from Ecuador" who had overstayed their visas. Family video shows officers forcibly separating the two women in the hospital room and leading Calero Cabanilla away in handcuffs as relatives asked to see an arrest warrant; a deputy is heard telling them officers "don't have to show it to you." Neither woman's arrest affidavit alleges a crime, and neither has a criminal history.

The Sheriff's Office told reporters the women were not taken into custody until after they were discharged. Family members, including cousin Jonathan Bravo, said Calero Cabanilla was pulled from her hospital bed still in pain and that Carriel Calero — who the family says had been expected to remain for further treatment after a seizure — was removed from the hospital the next morning while still in a hospital gown. ICE confirmed Calero Cabanilla entered the U.S. legally in March 2023 and Carriel Calero in February 2025, both overstaying their periods of admission; family members' further claims that Calero Cabanilla holds a pending asylum case and work permit, and that her daughter's visa runs until 2030, remain unaddressed by ICE and the sheriff's office and unverified through court or immigration records.

The arrests are among a growing number of ICE enforcement actions at hospitals since the Department of Homeland Security rescinded, in January 2025, longstanding guidance that had discouraged immigration arrests at hospitals, schools and churches.