ICE Arrests Asylum-Seeking Family Outside of Hospital: ‘They Never Got to See a Doctor’

Photo courtesy of Ana Linares

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a husband and wife, and their seven-year-old daughter, as the three tried to go to an emergency room in Oregon.

The three were apprehended outside Adventist Health hospital in Portland, according to Noticias Noroeste, a Spanish-language news website.

Last Friday, Yohendry De Jesus Crespo and his wife, Darianny Liseth Gonzalez de Crespo, took their seven-year-old daughter, Diana, to the hospital after the child developed a nosebleed that would not stop. But according to Oregon Live, “They never got to see a doctor.”

Three unmarked vehicles surrounded their car in the hospital’s parking lot, said Ana Linares, a family friend whose husband spoke with the parents after their arrest.

The Crespo parents are from Venezuela, and their daughter was born in Ecuador. They currently have a pending asylum petition. Oregon Live said a review of the Crespos found no criminal history in Oregon or Utah, where they previously resided. Linares said the Crespos spent a month in Mexico while waiting for their turn to enter the U.S. legally. In November 2024, they used the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol app to make an appointment to apply for asylum.

Adventist Health said it had no contact with officials.

“No law enforcement agency contacted us, and we did not coordinate with any agency,” a spokesperson said. “Adventist Health Portland is here for our community, open, available, and ready to provide care when it’s needed most. Patient care remains our priority, regardless of circumstances.”

The Crespos are reportedly being held at a detention facility in Texas, the same one where five-year-old Liam Ramos is being detained. On Tuesday, Ramos and his father were apprehended by ICE agents in Minneapolis after returning home from the child’s school.

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