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A Sunnyvale resident, Ulises Peña Lopez, was taken to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View following an acute medical emergency after he was arrested by immigration enforcement officials outside his home Friday morning.
Lopez’s family is speaking out against the arrest, claiming that it was violent and illegal. Community members have also rallied in support of Lopez and are demanding his immediate release from ICE custody.
“This violent act against him has left our entire family and community heartbroken and enraged,” the family said in a statement posted by the Santa Clara County Rapid Response Network on Feb. 23.
Lopez was discharged from El Camino Hospital Saturday evening and taken to an ICE detention center, the Golden State Annex in McFarland, according to the statement.
The family says they were not notified of Lopez’s release from the hospital nor of his transfer to the ICE detention facility, claiming that he was still in poor health and not allowed to fully recover at the hospital.
The Mountain View Police Department told the Voice that it had been notified by El Camino Health on Feb. 21, reporting the presence of Homeland Security officials at the hospital.
Multiple ICE field offices did not respond to a request for comment about its immigration enforcement activities in Sunnyvale or at El Camino Hospital.
Lopez, who is married to a U.S. citizen and has a 3-year-old daughter, was detained by ICE officials as he was leaving his home on Feb. 21, according to a press release from the Rapid Response Network.
During the arrest, Lopez asserted his right to remain silent and speak with a lawyer, according to the release. He also invoked his right to stay in his vehicle unless ICE produced a warrant.
The altercation triggered a medical emergency for Lopez, who has underlying health problems, according to the statement. Lopez struggled to breathe during the arrest and collapsed from the trauma, and paramedics were called in and rushed Lopez to the emergency room at El Camino Hospital.
The Rapid Response Network claims that ICE continued to violate Lopez’s rights at the hospital. It says he was not allowed to see his wife or other family members for more than 24 hours after his arrest, and was denied the right to speak with his attorney in a private and confidential setting. Lopez also was reportedly shackled to his bed and denied access to his medications, food and water.
“I haven’t seen this level of impunity before,” said Elena Hodges, an immigration attorney and co-director of Pangea Legal Services representing Lopez.
Community members have rallied in support of Lopez’s family and a GoFundMe account has been set up to help provide for them, as Lopez was the sole income earner for his family.
Local advocates also convened at Mexican Heritage Plaza in San Jose on Sunday afternoon as part of a demonstration to protest Lopez’s arrest and the presence of ICE in the community.
At the demonstration, a woman from the Rapid Response Network criticized El Camino Hospital, alleging that it had acted aggressively toward volunteers who had shown up to document what was happening to Lopez.
“(That) a health care provider, especially one like El Camino that is a private hospital that doesn’t have to worry about federal funds, should behave this way towards our community is unacceptable,” she said in a reel posted to the Instagram account of the Bay Area branch of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.
Ross Coyle, a spokesperson for El Camino Health, provided a statement Saturday evening confirming that a patient in custody of law enforcement had been treated at the hospital.
“We are committed to providing safe, high-quality healthcare to all individuals, regardless of their economic, immigration, or legal status,” Coyle said. “Our role is to treat patients and not to serve as an arm of any law enforcement agency.”
Citing privacy patient laws, Coyle declined to provide more information, other than stating that the patient had been discharged.
