US Sen. Ruben Gallego meets with family of Valley mother detained by ICE

PHOENIX — More than two months after a Peoria mother and business owner was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Sen. Ruben Gallego met with the family of Kelly Yu on Tuesday.

Gallego told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Outspoken with Bruce and Gaydos that his main takeaway from the meeting was the hurt Yu’s family is feeling.

“This is a family that truly believed in America,” the Democratic senator said. “They started restaurants …and they were doing everything they’re supposed to do.”

Yu fled China more than 20 years ago and came to the U.S. without documentation in order to seek asylum from the nation’s one-child policy. She was pregnant with her daughter at the time.

Since coming to the U.S., she and her family have settled in the West Valley. She owns two Kawaii Sushi restaurants in Peoria and Glendale with her husband, Aldo Urquiza, and have plans to open a third, according to Gallego.

Yu was detained on May 28 while at a monthly immigration hearing and is currently being held at the ICE Eloy Detention Center.

Ruben Gallego does not believe detaining people like Kelly Yu makes U.S. safer

Her removal from the U.S. has been ordered, despite her not having a criminal record, and that doesn’t sit well with Gallego.

“My big question is, how are we safer by getting rid of the Kelly Yus of this world? We’re not,” Gallego said. “It’s a waste of time and resources and money that we’re keeping somebody like her in jail versus using this time, money and effort to go after some real criminals that are here in this country illegally.”

However, Gallego said there is nothing he alone can do to help get Yu out of ICE custody. That will have to come through a compromise with Republican legislators in Congress.

“This is not going to be a roadmap for citizenship,” Gallego said. “What it will likely be is trying to figure out how do we give the Kelly Yus of the world some type of permit to stay here?”

Gallego added that this could include a fine for anyone who entered the country illegally, along with a background check and check-ins.

Will Republicans help Ruben Gallego find immigration compromise?

However, the senator says his Republican colleagues have not been willing to speak publicly about a compromise for immigration policy.

“A lot of them will not say that publicly because they’re afraid of getting (defeated in a primary election),” Gallego said. “But they do have a sense that this is the time to do it.”

We asked Arizona U.S. @SenRubenGallego what his Republican colleagues really think about the current deportation actions.

Full interview: https://t.co/y4gCFtqkwk@KTAR923 pic.twitter.com/EC1afJGMtP

— Outspoken with Bruce & Gaydos on KTAR News 92.3 (@OutspokenKTAR) August 13, 2025

Gallego told KTAR News 92.3 FM in July that he wants to help Yu because she has proven to be a productive member of her community.

“I’m going to look at everything I can do to help her and whether it’s passing individual legislation or really trying to even strike any type of deal with Trump, President (Donald) Trump and Republicans to save these types of people,” he said on July 24.

Gallego is the latest legislator to meet with Yu’s family. U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly met with Yu herself at the Eloy Detention Center last week. The meeting came after U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton was denied from visiting her at the facility in July.

There is currently no clear timeline for when Yu would be deported.

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