The wife of a restaurant owner who pleaded guilty to hiring undocumented workers was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents while shopping on Christmas Eve.
Despite being released on bond in August, Flor Ivet Vargas-Loya, Laveen, was detained by ICE outside a TJ Maxx in Laveen on Dec. 24, her immigration lawyer Ray Ybarra-Maldonado reported.
Vargas-Loya is the wife of Blademir Angulo Audeves, the owner of El Taco Loko, who pleaded guilty to federal charges of hiring undocumented workers.
Vargas-Loya did not appear in the ICE detainee lookup website as of late afternoon Dec. 26. But Ybarra-Maldonado said he received confirmation from one of his client’s daughters that she is in ICE custody at Florence Services Processing Center in Florence.
Why did ICE detain Vargas-Loya?
When Audeves was arrested on July 8, Vargas-Loya was “taken straight into immigration custody,” Ybarra-Maldonado said.
“She was never given any criminal charges. It’s been nothing but an immigration case since day one for her,” Ybarra-Maldonado said.
ICE did not immediately respond to comment on why Vargas-Loya was detained.
Vargas-Loya was released on bond on Aug. 12, and her court date was set for March 10, according to Ybarra-Maldonado and the Executive Office for Immigration Review Automated Case Information website.
Vargas-Loya was “free to move about whenever and wherever she wanted” when she was released on bond on Aug. 12, Ybarra-Maldonado said. An ankle monitor was placed on her so immigration officials knew where she was at all times.
“They know where she’s at. Every moment of every single day, yet they still decide to take her into custody,” Ybarra-Maldonado said. “It is unprecedented what they’re doing to someone that has a hearing scheduled as far out as 2028 and has been completely complying with the court order.”
Flor Ivet Vargas-Loya, wife of El Taco Loko owner Blademir Angulo Audeves, in white, leaves U.S. District Court in Phoenix on Aug. 20, 2025, following her husband pleading guilty to habitual employment of people in the country illegally.
Why is Audeves in prison?
Blademir Angulo Audeves, 42, pleaded guilty on Aug. 20 to engaging in a “pattern and practice” to employ people in the country without authorization and illegally possessing firearms as an undocumented immigrant.
U.S. Homeland Security Investigations, a division of ICE, had Audeves under surveillance for three months before they raided his restaurant, taco truck and homes.
Audeves was sentenced to 20 months in prison by a federal judge in October. He likely faces deportation when he is released.
‘Lack of humanity in making this decision’
Vargas-Loya is the mother of a nineteen-year-old U.S. citizen and a seventeen-year-old U.S. citizen, Ybarra-Maldonado said.
Ybarra-Maldonado said both of her children were shocked when their mother was taken into ICE custody on Christmas Eve.
“It’s just tragic that ICE can’t take into consideration family dynamics and the fact that two children are left without their mom when their dad’s already incarcerated on Christmas Eve,” Ybarra-Maldonado said. “The lack of humanity in making this decision, the timing of the decision is horrific.”
There were many different ways that immigration officials could have gone about continuing to monitor or restricting Vargas-Loya’s movements, Ybarra-Maldonado said.
“It could have been way different than just arresting her when she was out shopping Christmas Eve, Ybarra-Maldonado said.
The Arizona Republic reporters Ray Stern and Richard Ruelas contributed to this reporting.
Have any news tips or story ideas about immigration and the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona? Reach the reporter at david.ulloa@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @davidulloa_ii.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: ICE detains Phoenix restaurant owner’s wife on Christmas Eve. Why?