A leukemia patient’s health is getting dangerously worse in an
ICE
detention center. Arbella Rodríguez Márquez, a legal resident of the United States, suffers from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. The woman’s health has deteriorated significantly since she was put in the detention center.
Arbella Rodríguez Márquez is a Phoenix resident suffering from leukemia. 5 months ago, she was arrested by ICE officers despite her being a legal resident. The woman has been residing in the country for 25 years and has no criminal record to her name.
Arbella is currently being held at the Eloy Detention Center, which is the biggest ICE prison in the country. There are clear signs that the time she has spent there is taking a toll on her body. Sonia Almaraz, who is Arbella’s partner, has expressed her fear for her partner’s life.
Sonia recently opened up about how she now thinks her partner might not make it out alive out of the detention center, given her deteriorating health. Arbella’s partner noted how she has lost a significant amount of weight, showing how severely being in the detention center has affected her.
“In the past five months, she has lost 55 pounds, her hands are swollen, and her
health worsens every day
inside the violent place,” Sonia claimed. She went on to add how Arbella’s body is “beginning to collapse” by being in prison. The patient’s partner pointed out how Arbella is also suffering from swelling, blotches, bruises, fatigue, and extreme dehydration.
Detained for months and denied proper cancer treatment, Arbella “Yari” Rodríguez Márquez is fighting for her life inside one of ICE’s deadliest facilities. COURIER’s
@TheKeystone
has the story:
https://t.co/LDWUVa2BZp
— COURIER (@CourierNewsroom)
July 16, 2025
Sonia added that Arbella is suffering a lack of “medical care and proper treatment.” Arbella was arrested at the Nogales border while the couple was returning from a trip.
ABC15 Arizona
reports that the couple was instructed to step out of their vehicle and taken to an inspection point.
Sonia, who is reportedly an American citizen, was separated from her partner. She told the Copper Courier that she was “isolated” in a “cage for four hours” without being informed of what was happening. Almaraz went on to recall how she and her partner were travelling from
Mexico
to the US like anybody else. “And we were just not lucky,” she adds.
Sonia notes how “devastating” the experience has been. “You wouldn’t expect your own country to treat you like this,” she said. Almaraz also reveals how she had no news about Arebella’s whereabouts for two days after she was arrested. She was informed that her partner was being held at the prison after she got a call from the Eloy Detention Center.
An LGBTQ+ group is calling for the release of a Phoenix woman with leukemia who has been in immigration detention for five months, despite being a legal resident.
STORY:
https://t.co/akg0m4vhqt
pic.twitter.com/NWlxn95uqL
— ABC15 Arizona (@abc15)
July 4, 2025
Detention Watch Network has previously labelled the detention center in question as the “deadliest immigration detention center in the U.S.” 16 deaths and 5 suicides have occurred at the prison.
The detention center’s reputation precedes itself, considering a 2024 report by the Florence Project. The report revealed that the Eloy detention center provided its inmates with poor medical care and unsanitary dining conditions. A complete violation privacy of women was also noted at the center.
