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Woman pleads guilty to staging fake 2025 kidnapping by immigration agents

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Coverage spectrum

Covered by 3 outlets, all right-leaning.

3 articles in total. The spectrum counts each outlet once and leaves opinion out. How we measure bias

The New York Post, Fox News and The Washington Times report that Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, 43, of South Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in federal court to staging a fake kidnapping in 2025. Citing federal prosecutors, the outlets say she told several people that federal agents or people acting for them had taken her, made anonymous or blocked calls to build the account, and altered her appearance before staging her release. Fox News reports that prosecutors said she aimed to build a lawsuit against Border Patrol. The outlets describe the case as a false claim about immigration agents during the Los Angeles enforcement surge in June and July 2025.

Headline and summary written by Mantle’s AI from the coverage below, under published rules. How this works

What happened

Key points

Each point shows who reports it, from Far Left to Far Right.

  1. Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón, 43, pleaded guilty to staging a fake kidnapping in 2025 in which she said immigration agents had taken her.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

  2. Federal prosecutors said she falsely told several people she had been taken by federal agents and made anonymous or blocked calls to build the account.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

  3. Prosecutors said she altered her appearance and hid before staging her release.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight1Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

  4. Prosecutors said the fake kidnapping claims were made in June and July 2025, during immigration enforcement in Los Angeles.

    One side only: the rightReported byRight2Far Right1See the outletsHide the outlets
    Right
    New York Post, The Washington Times
    Far Right
    Fox News

How each side tells it

Compare views

All three outlets, all on the right, report that Calderón pleaded guilty to staging a fake ICE kidnapping and present the case as an effort to damage immigration agents, with the Post and Fox using the most loaded wording.

  • the left

    No coverage yet

    No left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the center

    No coverage yet

    No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

  • the right

    3 outlets

    Right-side headlines call her an illegal immigrant or illegal alien and frame the fake kidnapping as a smear against ICE or Border Patrol; the Post and Fox headlines use the most loaded wording.

    California illegal migrant’s ICE fantasy implodes after she was Loaded verb“busted”The word is informal and adds a sense of a sting or exposure beyond the reported guilty plea.More neutral: caughtDisagree with this highlight? on video at fast food joint
    New York PostRightAll right-leaning headlines

The words they chose

Language to notice

Words that carry a judgement beyond the facts. Tap a highlighted word anywhere on the page to see why.

  • Left

    Has not covered this story.

  • Center

    Has not covered this story.

  • Right2

    illegal alienbusted

In the outlets’ own words

  • Dehumanizing label

    illegal alienMore neutral: unauthorized immigrant or noncitizen without legal status

    Appears in some statutes but is widely read as dehumanizing; 'alien' frames people as foreign objects rather than residents.

    A scheming Los Angeles illegal alien admitted guilt in federal court after making up a bogus ICE kidnapping story that…

    Used byNew York Post (Right)Fox News (Far Right)

  • Loaded verb

    bustedMore neutral: caught

    The word is informal and adds a sense of a sting or exposure beyond the reported guilty plea.

    California illegal migrant’s ICE fantasy implodes after she was busted on video at fast food joint

    Used byNew York Post (Right)

See the full language guide

See for yourself

Side by side

What each side leads with and what it leaves out. Open a side to read its headlines.

From the left

0 outlets

No left-leaning outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the center

0 outlets

No center outlet that Mantle follows has covered this story yet. That absence is part of the picture.

From the right

3 outlets

Leads with

  • guilty plea and federal charges
  • alleged effort to smear immigration agents
  • her status as an illegal immigrant
See the 3 headlines from the rightHide the headlines
  • The Washington TimesRight

    Woman admits to faking ICE 'kidnapping' to make agency look bad

    An illegal immigrant has pleaded guilty to faking an ICE kidnapping last year, admitting that she told people she was grabbed by masked men, then disappeared for days before staging her own "release" -- all to try to taint the immigration agency at the height of the Los Angeles …

    Read at The Washington Times (opens in a new tab)
  • Fox NewsFar Right

    Dehumanizing label“Illegal alien”Appears in some statutes but is widely read as dehumanizing; 'alien' frames people as foreign objects rather than residents.More neutral: unauthorized immigrant, noncitizen without legal statusDisagree with this highlight? pleads guilty to staging fake kidnapping to target Border Patrol

    Yuriana Julia Pelaez Calderón allegedly fabricated her abduction, altered her appearance and hid in California to build a lawsuit against Border Patrol.

    Read at Fox News (opens in a new tab)
  • New York PostRight

    California illegal migrant’s ICE fantasy implodes after she was Loaded verb“busted”The word is informal and adds a sense of a sting or exposure beyond the reported guilty plea.More neutral: caughtDisagree with this highlight? on video at fast food joint

    A scheming Los Angeles Dehumanizing label“illegal alien”Appears in some statutes but is widely read as dehumanizing; 'alien' frames people as foreign objects rather than residents.More neutral: unauthorized immigrant, noncitizen without legal statusDisagree with this highlight? admitted guilt in federal court after making up a bogus ICE kidnapping story that was meant to smear federal officers.

    Read at New York Post (opens in a new tab)

Articles you open from here build My Mix, a private picture of how your reading spreads across the spectrum, kept on this device. What is My Mix?

The left is Far Left and Left together. The right is Right and Far Right together. Every outlet keeps its own five-point rating.

Who reported it when

How the coverage built up

  • Left

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Center

    No report yet

    From the outlets Mantle follows

  • Right

    First to report

    New York Post, Oct 26, 7:27 PM EDT

See the order the outlets reported inHide the order
  1. New York PostRightOct 26, 7:27 PM EDT
  2. Fox NewsFar RightOct 26, 7:40 PM EDT
  3. The Washington TimesRightOct 27, 3:21 PM EDT

Times are the ones the outlets published in their own feeds, in Eastern time. Opinion is left out.

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