Minnesota Woman With Painful Ovarian Cyst Denied Humanitarian Parole While Held in ICE Detention

Andrea Pedro-Francisco’s story is a brutal reminder of the inhumanity baked into ICE’s detention system. The Minnesota woman was detained before she could undergo scheduled surgery for a large ovarian cyst. Since then, she has endured severe pain and conflicting medical assessments while locked up in notorious Texas detention centers.

Rep. Angie Craig, who visited Andrea at Camp East Montana in El Paso, described the conditions as heartbreaking. Despite Minnesota doctors’ clear recommendations for surgery, ICE initially denied her care, even telling her she no longer had the cyst. Only after an ultrasound arranged outside the detention center was it confirmed the cyst remains, still untreated.

Medical professionals have warned ICE that ignoring a cyst of this size is dangerous. Yet, Andrea’s humanitarian parole request to return to Minnesota for treatment was denied, leaving her trapped in a system that routinely fails detainees’ basic health needs. The facility where she is held has just three examination rooms for 800 detainees, a stark illustration of the neglect fueling a five-fold increase in deaths in ICE custody nationwide.

ICE officials could not provide Rep. Craig with information on how many Minnesotans remain in Texas detention centers, highlighting a lack of transparency and accountability. Andrea’s case is not an isolated incident but part of a broader pattern of medical neglect and overcrowding that endangers detainees’ lives.

This is ICE’s cruelty laid bare: a woman in excruciating pain, denied the medical care she urgently needs, and refused parole to seek treatment. We will keep tracking Andrea’s fight and the systemic abuses that continue to plague immigration detention under this administration.