ICE detained a Venezuelan family in an Oregon hospital parking lot as the parents sought medical attention for their 7-year-old daughter’s nosebleed.
On Jan. 16, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested the Crespo-Gonzalez family outside Adventist Health Portland in Portland, Oregon, according to reporting from Spanish-language publication Noticias Noroeste and The Oregonian.
Yohendry De Jesus Crespo, 40, and his wife Darianny Liseth Gonzalez de Crespo, 34, arrived at the hospital seeking care for their 7-year-old daughter, Diana, whose nose wouldn’t stop bleeding.
Three unmarked cars surrounded the Crespos and arrested them, according to family friend Ana Linares, whose husband spoke to the family after the incident. The family was then flown to the Immigration Processing Center near San Antonio, Texas, according to ICE’s detainee locator system.
It is unknown why ICE arrested the Crespo-Gonzalez family. The Oregonian’s review of criminal records in Oregon and Utah, where the family previously lived, did not turn up any criminal records for either Yohendry or Darianny.
Yohendry and Darianny, known to friends as Joey and Dari, came to America from Venezuela in Nov. 2024, seeking asylum. They applied for an immigration appointment via a U.S. Customs and Border Protection mobile app, requesting permission to present themselves at a port of entry. A hearing for their asylum case is set for 2028.
They initially moved to Utah after entering the country, but moved to Portland after the killing of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University in September.
“They are good people, not criminals,” Linares told The Oregonian. “They were looking for stability. They wanted to help their families in Venezuela.”
Linares also expressed concern for Diana. She said that, according to Yohendry, Diana was suffering from a fever at the detention facility the weekend after their arrest, but was not seen by the facility’s doctor until Wednesday.
The Crespo-Gonzalez family arrest is a rare instance of ICE arresting an entire family in a community space. In 2025, President Donald Trump overturned an Obama-era rule forbidding ICE from conducting arrests in hospitals, schools, and churches.
“No one should live in fear of being detained while getting medical care for their child,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, representing Oregon’s 3rd District.
Adventist Health denied having any involvement with the arrest, saying in a statement, “No law enforcement agency contacted us, and we did not coordinate with any agency. 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.”
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
ICE has been under heavy scrutiny for detaining young children and toddlers. On Tuesday, ICE detained a 5-year-old boy in Minneapolis, then allegedly made him knock on the door of his family’s home as a ploy to lure his father out to be arrested. On Thursday, the agency detained a 2-year-old girl and her father.
Border Patrol chief Gregory Bovino claimed on Friday that ICE is “experts with children.”
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