1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing to demand immediate action to protect children from harmful immigration enforcement practices that are denying them medical care and basic human rights. On January 16, ICE agents arrested a Venezuelan family with legal asylum claims outside Adventist Hospital in Portland, Oregon, where they had rushed their 7-year-old daughter Diana for emergency treatment of an unstoppable nosebleed. Despite the parents' pleas, agents denied the child medical care and she never saw a doctor. The family, Yohendry De Jesus Crespo and Darianny Liseth González de Crespo, had a 2028 immigration court date and no criminal records. They were transported to the Dilley Immigration Processing Center in Texas, a facility run by CoreCivic that has been accused of providing inadequate medical care for children, poor sanitary conditions, and serving moldy or worm-infested food. According to Oregon state Rep. Ricki Ruiz, Diana remains ill with a fever and has not received basic medical care. This is not an isolated incident. Federal agents have seized at least four children from Minnesota public schools in the past two weeks, including a 5-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl, also sent to Dilley. A 6-year-old is missing in DHS custody after being separated from his father. ICE is currently jailing a record 73,000 people facing deportation, including 6,000 family units and nearly 5,000 children separated during Trump's first term who have yet to be reunited with their families. Children should never be denied emergency medical care or used as enforcement targets. I urge you to demand that ICE immediately provide Diana and all children in custody with appropriate medical care, ensure families have access to legal counsel and due process, and establish clear policies prohibiting immigration enforcement at hospitals and schools. As Rep. Ruiz stated, situations involving children require heightened care, compassion, and coordination. Our laws and our humanity demand nothing less.