ICE Denies Humanitarian Parole and Surgery to Detained Minnesota Woman with Large Ovarian Cyst

Andrea Pedro Francisco, a 23-year-old woman detained by ICE since February, has been denied both humanitarian parole and the surgery she urgently needs to remove a large ovarian cyst. ICE officials stated that medical staff determined she is not a candidate for surgery, despite outside medical professionals diagnosing her with a cyst the size of a tennis ball that requires prompt intervention.

Pedro Francisco was arrested during Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota and transferred to detention centers in El Paso, where she has been held without the necessary medical treatment. Her attorney, Ruby Powers, condemned ICE’s refusal to provide care, emphasizing that Pedro Francisco is a civil detainee, not a convicted criminal, and that independent doctors have confirmed the need for surgery.

The denial of parole and surgery has drawn condemnation from human rights groups like Amnesty International and political figures such as U.S. Representative Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), who met with Pedro Francisco in El Paso to advocate for her release and medical care. Craig called ICE’s decision “sickening” and highlighted the agency’s ongoing disregard for detainees’ health under the Trump administration.

Medical experts warn that delaying surgery for large ovarian cysts risks rupture, which can lead to life-threatening complications. Pedro Francisco fled violence and discrimination in Guatemala at age 16 and has been living in Minnesota with her mother as they pursue asylum claims.

An El Paso federal judge recently denied her habeas corpus petition, which might have allowed her release on bond. ICE retains discretion to grant humanitarian parole in cases of medical emergency but chose to deny her request on May 4.

Powers criticized ICE’s claim that the agency provides “the best healthcare that many individuals have received in their lives” as offensive and irrelevant, underscoring that the constitutional standard for detainee care is not being met. Pedro Francisco has now waited over two months without the surgery she needs.

Her case is a stark example of ICE’s systemic failure to provide adequate medical care and the agency’s ruthless prioritization of detention over human life. The fight for her release and treatment is far from over.