ICE Arrest Left Bay Area Man Hospitalized and Struggling to Breathe, Attorney Says

Updated Tuesday, March 4

The attorney for a South Bay man arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week said that the officers were violent and aggressive with him and violated his constitutional rights, however the agency has challenged much of that narrative.

Ulises Peña Lopez, a Sunnyvale resident, was arrested by ICE outside his home on Friday morning, according to his attorney, Elena Hodges.

When officers approached Peña Lopez, he was in his car and requested to see a warrant and speak with an attorney, Hodges said.

“And in response, ICE bashed in his car window and dragged him out,” Hodges said. Peña Lopez suffered a panic attack and was taken by ambulance to a hospital in Mountain View.

Hodges said the violent arrest and failure to show a warrant marked only the beginning of a series of concerning actions from the immigration agency. When she was eventually able to speak with Peña Lopez at the hospital, she said ICE agents refused to leave the room so they could speak privately.

Peña Lopez’s family alleges that he was mistreated in the hospital and that they were not allowed to see him for more than 24 hours after his arrest.

“They shackled him to his bed, prevented him from contacting his family, and kept him isolated from his loved ones,” the family said in a statement on Sunday afternoon. “He shared that the ICE agents beat him up in an alley after taking him from the house.”

An ICE spokesperson said Thursday evening that Peña Lopez was not following commands from officers who could not see inside his car’s tinted windows, and they struck it three times until it cracked. Peña Lopez was not dragged from the car, ICE said, but rather “exited his vehicle unassisted and was fully cooperative as arresting officers took him into custody.”

The spokesperson also said the allegation that Peña Lopez was beaten by officers is “absolutely inaccurate.”

Peña Lopez was not shown a warrant while being arrested, ICE acknowledged, though the spokesperson claims it was not shown because shortly after exiting the car, Peña Lopez began experiencing a medical event and needed aid from the officers, followed by the paramedics. Once at the hospital, officers didn’t allow family or an attorney to visit with him until it was clear he was medically stable, ICE said.

The family said that Peña Lopez has health conditions, including a blood clot, heart issues, a spinal disorder and knee injuries, and that he collapsed and struggled to breathe after the arrest.

“This was not just an arrest; it was an assault on his dignity, his health, and his rights,” the statement said. “This violent act against him has left our entire family and community heartbroken and enraged.”

The agency has yet to produce records about his case, Hodges said.

“This feels really indicative of an environment politically that is empowering ICE to act with even more impunity, even more recklessness and cruelty than we’re accustomed to,” Hodges said.

An ICE spokesperson said Peña Lopez was previously deported from the U.S. in 2013, illegally re-entered at some point after that, and was targeted for arrest because of his criminal record.

Peña Lopez was previously convicted of disregarding safety and evading police in November 2016 in San Luis Obispo County, as well as assault with a deadly weapon with force in March 2020 in Santa Clara County, ICE said. He was also convicted of a DUI in September 2020 in Santa Clara County.

Peña Lopez has a wife and a 3-year-old daughter and has lived in Sunnyvale for about 13 years, his family and attorney said. Hodges said information about his immigration status or the reason he was arrested isn’t clear yet due to the lack of records from ICE.

“We want a full investigation of what happened to him that day,” said Jesus Ruiz, an organizer with the Rapid Response Network of Santa Clara County. “We are reaching out to local congresspeople to get the support to launch an investigation of what happened.”

On Saturday night, Peña Lopez was released from the hospital and was transferred overnight to the Golden State Annex Detention Center in McFarland, in the Central Valley, Hodges said.

On Sunday, Peña Lopez had another panic attack at the facility and was taken to a hospital, but he wasn’t told which one, Hodges said he told his family. After returning to the detention facility on Sunday night, he was denied access to medications and was not fed, Hodges said, adding that she and the family are worried about his health and well-being.

“We want justice for Ulises, and we will fight to ensure that no one else has to endure such brutality,” his family’s statement said.

Community members and supporters read the family’s statement at a vigil at the Mexican Heritage Plaza in East San José on Sunday for Jocelynn Rojo Carranza. The 11-year-old girl in Texas died by suicide this month after classmates had bullied her and threatened to call ICE to deport her parents, according to her mother.

“This whole narrative that this new administration is painting on the undocumented community, it carries consequences,” said Ruiz, the Rapid Response Network organizer, adding that it trickles down “to those enforcing immigration law and feeling that they can treat the undocumented community as less than humans.”

KQED’s Christopher Alam contributed to this report.

This story has been updated to include a more detailed response from ICE than was available at the time of original publication.