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The East Palo Alto woman who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday, remained at Stanford Hospital the following day after suffering a medical emergency during her arrest, sparking concerns from local advocates and officials.
About a dozen people showed up at the hospital late Monday afternoon in support of the woman, who they said was denied visitation with family. The woman was one of two people who were arrested in East Palo Alto Monday morning, in an operation San Mateo County Rapid Response Network staff say was targeted.
The arrests were the first of their kind in East Palo Alto under the current federal administration and police were unaware of arrests on Monday morning, police said.
“They only let us know when they are in town and when they leave,” East Palo Alto Police Chief Jeff Liu wrote in a message. “We do not work with ICE.”
The woman, an East Palo Alto mother, fainted during her arrest after being pulled out of her car by multiple people while attempting to leave to work, said Patti Regehr, rapid response network volunteer and former Palo Alto Humans Relations Commissioner. Videos of the arrest circulated on Facebook throughout the day. According to the volunteers with the network, she is 48 years old.
“Her husband said they drove around with her for an hour before they took her to the hospital,” Regehr said.
When Regehr learned of the arrests, she helped organize advocates to enter Stanford Hospital in support of the woman.
Michelle de Blank, attorney with the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County, is not representing the patient but arrived at the hospital on Monday to help the woman locate an immigration lawyer and ensure her health is not further compromised.
“She’s sick, so my priority was her health and well-being last night,” De Blank said. “She came in unwell, and I wanted to make sure she stayed alive and I wanted to help her family.”
Stanford Health staff originally said the patient would be allowed visitors, De Blank said, but hours later they changed their decision.
ICE reported that the woman is “not in distress,” she said, but that information is unconfirmed.
“We’d like her to leave,” De Blank said. “We want the family to gain access to her. We want them to know how she’s doing, and we don’t want any action taken until she’s well.”
Stanford Hospital staff declined to answer specific questions about the patient’s visitation rights and current status.
“Stanford Health Care, in accordance with our current policies and in compliance with federal agencies, is providing the needed care for this patient,” wrote hospital spokesperson Lisa Kim in an email to the Weekly.
Stanford also declined to answer questions on whether or not the woman was discharged on Wednesday, citing patient privacy. The San Mateo Rapid Response Network was informed that the woman was still there Wednesday evening.
Palo Alto Council member Julie Lythcott-Haims was among the people who entered Stanford Hospital to support the woman and witnessed the “masked, badgeless” federal officers guard her door, she said.
“A patient’s rights were completely ignored by ICE and we were watching the Stanford decision- making process, which originally asserted that family and the lawyer would be allowed in,” Lythcott-Haims said. “We watched them succumb to ICE.”
U.S. Representative Sam Liccardo was in conversations with Stanford Health staff and immigration officers, according to Lythcott-Haims. Liccardo’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions about the ICE operation. A spokesperson from his office said Thursday that Liccardo “was made aware of the incident with ICE, and he immediately reached out to the regional liaison and the hospital.”
“Ensuring the woman who was detained had the ability to contact her family was the primary concern of both conversations,” the Liccardo spokesperson said.
Stanford staff have conveyed to local officials that they are “working on” connecting the woman with her family, de Blank said.
The local presence of immigration agents comes at a time when California medical staff are grappling with how to deal with federal law enforcement inside hospitals. As Calmatters reported this week, immigration attorneys and advocates have been increasingly concerned about uncertain protocols, conflicting messages and potential threats to patients’ legal and privacy rights.
In the Stanford case, nurses had to act as intermediaries between the woman and her family members, according to Lythcott-Haims.
“One positive thing is that [the patient’s] father asked the nurse to go in and tell his daughter that he’s there, that people are here on the outside working to support her, and she’s not alone,” Lythcott-Haims said. “And the nurse did convey that to her.”
