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South Bay immigrant family says federal agents took away two relatives
One man escaped and videotaped his wife as she was taken away by federal agents.
EAST PALO ALTO, Calif. - A South Bay immigrant family says federal agents confronted three relatives on Monday morning and that they had taken away two of them while they were in East Palo Alto.
Now one of them, a woman, is being treated at Stanford Medical Center.
Family members identified her by first name as Yenycey, a 47-year-old mother of three.
They said she'll be released from the hospital in the coming days, but they fear that federal agents will arrest her as soon as that happens.
What we know:
Her husband Oscar, who asked that his last name not be used, shared a video that he shot of the confrontation.
In the video, there's audio of a woman screaming.
It shows a group of men pulling a woman out of a vehicle in front of a home in East Palo Alto on Monday morning around 7:30, and putting her into another vehicle.
Nani Friedman of Faith in Action – which operates a rapid response hotline for San Mateo County residents to report ICE activity – told KTVU that ICE officers were conducting "targeted enforcement operations" and looking to arrest specific individuals in their homes.
"They were not bounty hunters, they were not detaining people indiscriminately in the street based on race, and they were not conducting a raid (going to a place to detain several people)," Friedman said.
KTVU reached out to Palo Alto police and ICE for more information on the arrests. ICE did not respond prior to publication, but Assistant Palo Alto Police Chief James Reifschneider told KTVU that the police department was contacted and notified by ICE that their agents "would be at that location."
"They did not request our assistance nor did we provide any," Reifschneider added.
What they're saying:
Oscar said he had just pulled up to a relatives' home to get a ride to work and his wife was getting into the driver's seat to take off when they were approached by men dressed in black who identified themselves as police.
Oscar managed to run away and videotaped what was happening from a distance.
With the help of an interpreter, Oscar spoke to KTVU on the condition that his face is not shown.
He said the men made his wife kneel on the ground, handcuffed her and that's when she fainted.
Another family member said he followed the federal agents who were in minivans after the agents took Yenycey away. He also shot video which shows the agents stopping in a parking lot of a hospital.
Oscar said he tracked his wife on his phone and said the federal agents drove around for almost an hour before they took her to Stanford Medical Center.
A hospital spokesperson confirmed that federal agents had brought a person to the emergency department for treatment around noon. .
"I want everybody to hear what they're doing to us and right now, she is in serious condition," said Oscar.
He said his wife suffers from a blood condition that she had already been undergoing treatment for at Stanford.
"Pick up those with criminal backgrounds who have committed crimes. I am not against that," said Izzy, a family member of the couple who asked that KTVU not give her full name.
She said the husband and wife were on their way to work. Oscar is a gardner and Yenycey is a housekeeper.
"The contributors are the ones being taken. They're hurting families. They're tearing families apart. They're traumatizing families," said Izzy.
The family's attorney shared a photo she says was taken outside Yenycey's hospital room where there are men stationed.
She suspects they are federal agents waiting for Yenycey to be discharged so they can arrest her.
Family members also said on Monday morning, about 15 minutes before federal agents confronted the couple, they took away Oscar and Yenycey's 29-year-old nephew, a construction worker, in front of the same East Palo Alto home.
Family members said he's being held in San Francisco.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave a message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @AmberKTVU