Sunnyvale resident detained by ICE but family says they are ‘frightened and outraged’

SUNNYVALE — The detention of a Sunnyvale resident by federal immigration officials last week gave way to uproar in the South Bay.

According to a statement on a GoFundMe page set up for his family, Ulises Peña Lopez was detained unconstitutionally and violently. A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the agency detained Peña Lopez as “part of an targeted enforcement action.”

Peña Lopez, a 30-year-old Mexican citizen, was arrested by ICE officers on Feb. 21 in Sunnyvale. According to a statement from ICE, the officers made contact with Peña Lopez while he was in his car. They said that he initially refused officers’ orders but eventually exited his vehicle unassisted and was fully cooperative as he was taken into custody.

However, the family’s GoFundMe page tells a different story. They say that Peña Lopez asserted his legal rights by remaining silent, asking to speak with a lawyer, and staying in his car until the officers struck his car window with a baton, dragged him out of the car and physically assaulted him.

ICE’s statement acknowledges that Peña Lopez experienced a “non specific medical emergency during the arrest,” and said that an officer provided medical care until he could be taken to the hospital via ambulance.

“U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is aware of news and social media accounts with reports on the recent arrest of illegal alien Ulises Pena-Lopez which are inaccurate and not supported by facts,” said a statement by the federal agency emailed to this news organization.

The family’s statement on GoFundMe says that Peña Lopez has several serious medical conditions, including a blood clot in his neck, a heart condition, a spinal disorder and knee injuries, which contributed to his collapse and caused him to struggle to breathe during the arrest. They also said that Peña Lopez was chained to his hospital bed and denied food, water and access to his medications. They accused ICE of repeatedly preventing him from speaking with his lawyer confidentially.

Finally, Peña Lopez’s family said that ICE took him to a detention facility without telling them or his lawyer, while ignoring his medical needs. ICE said that medical staff did not find any specific injuries, and Peña Lopez was discharged into ICE custody on Feb. 22.

According to a press release from the Santa Clara Rapid Response Network, which monitors immigration enforcement activity, Peña Lopez’s wife called their hotline, and their team, led by Pangea Legal Services, is providing free legal assistance to Peña Lopez.

“Our whole family is frightened and outraged by ICE’s ongoing violations,” said Aby Peña, Ulises Peña Lopez’s wife, in a statement sent by the Rapid Response Network. “We demand freedom for Ulises and accountability for ICE’s abuses! ICE should release my husband so that he can heal and recover at home with us. Our three-year-old daughter and I love and need him, and so does the rest of his family and community.”

Peña Lopez is described on the fundraising pge as a “devoted husband and father,” married to a U.S. citizen and father to a three-year-old daughter.

President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has encouraged officials to prioritize deportations of undocumented immigrants with criminal backgrounds. ICE’s statement stated that Peña Lopez was previously deported in November 2013 and re-entered the country at an unknown location on an unknown date. A spokesperson for the federal agency said that he had previous convictions, including in 2016 for disregarding safety and evading police in San Luis Obispo County, and 2020 convictions for assault with a deadly weapon with force in Santa Clara County and a DUI in Palo Alto.

The GoFundMe page for Peña Lopez’s family had raised around $21,000 of its $50,000 goal by Friday morning. The money will help his family pay for rent and living expenses, medical costs, legal fees and other essential expenses like food and utilities.

“From the beginning of our emergency activation in support of Mr. Peña Lopez and his family, ICE has been committing one constitutional violation after another,” said Elena Hodges, an immigration attorney and co-director with Pangea Legal Services and the lead attorney for the rapid response activation. “From the violent and illegal circumstances of the arrest, to denials of access to necessary medication, appropriate medical care, food, and water, to the ongoing denial of access to counsel and the use of solitary confinement, ICE’s abuses are ongoing. At the same time, Ulises, his family, and his community are fighting back to demand that ICE free Ulises and to make sure that ICE is held accountable.”