Remember the Undocumented Migrant Who Rejected the Mexican Beans? She Was Arrested in the US

Months after going viral because of her remarks about been fed “pig food” as a migrant refugee in Mexico, the woman known as “Lady Beans” has been arrested for a crime she committed after crossing to the US.

In the last months of 2018, when the much-covered caravan of migrants from Central America approached the US seeking asylum a Honduran woman went viral for the wrong reasons and came to be known as “Lady Beans.”

The moniker originated when she complained about been served crushed beans with rice by Mexican charitable groups, calling it “pig food.” Mexican people reacted to what they saw as ungratefulness, making her infamous.

The woman, named Mirian Zelaya Gómez, later issued an apology to the Mexican people in another video, praising the country for its efforts to distribute nutritious food to migrants without expecting anything in return.

Zelaya excused herself for the negative attitude she showed in the original interview, blaming stress due to the health condition of her daughter, who was traveling alongside her, at the moment.

Now, Mirian’s name has surfaced once again after Dallas authorities revealed that she and her sister Mirna have been arrested in the US. Both women are reportedly in the Kays Tower prison.

“According to an official report by the Dallas Police, the infamous ‘Lady Beans’ was arrested for assault. According to social media, Mirian Zelaya Gómez was accused of beating a woman who apparently owned the home her sister was renting.”

-Journalist Nelssie Carrillo, Instagram, March 2019.

A Mexican blogger and YouTuber known as Chamonic claims that the woman attacked by the sisters, both currently under the custody of the authorities, is no other but their aunt.

Mexican news outlet El Sol de México shared Chamonic’s version of the incident and its aftermath, reporting that the sisters were offered a bail of 10.000 that none of the two has been able to pay.

Neither Mexican nor American authorities have confirmed any details regarding the arrest of the two Honduran women.

While the “Lady Beans” controversy fueled the anti-migrant sentiment some sectors in Mexico manifest because of the current border crisis, there are still many who solidarize with the millions fleeing violence and hunger in their countries.

In November 2018, the local Party for Socialism & Socialism called for demonstrations in support of migrants who hope to find opportunities to live with dignity in the US.

“We want them to know that they are not alone. We want to redirect the conversation from the nasty comments that have been made against them to the reality that these people are facing,” organizer Ruth Beltran told SNN News.

The display of solidarity came in response to what some see as a campaign of fear by the Trump administration to turn Americans against migrants, something that has always been a central part of Trump’s platform.