ICE Out of Highland Hospital!

On Tuesday, October 27 over 30 nurses, staff people, and community members spoke at a joint meeting of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and Alameda Health Services (AHS) regarding the recent ICE presence at Highland Hospital.

On Friday, October 16, a member of our community was violently detained by ICE agents in Emeryville and then transported to Highland Hospital. No warrant was provided by ICE when he was admitted to the hospital.

Nurses described how two ICE agents were present in the patient’s room at all times, including the ICE agent who violently detained the patient, breaking six of his ribs. According to news reports, the agent sat on his bed and grinned at him. The nurses also described how the patient was handcuffed to the bed and that agents refused to loosen the handcuffs even though it was clearly causing a lot of pain.

From the time the detainee was admitted, ICE vehicles were stationed at the hospital around the clock, first in the public parking garage and then later in a private parking area away from public view. Several nurses reported that almost half of their regular patients did not show up for their appointments because of the fear caused by the presence of ICE at the hospital. They also described the trauma they felt working in an environment with ICE agents present. Community members who were peacefully observing and documenting the ICE activity in the parking lot reported that they were harassed by the hospital’s private security guards.

During the entire time the patient was hospitalized, Highland Hospital administration cooperated with ICE by allowing them to continue detaining the patient without a warrant, to be present in the patient’s room, to park in the County-owned public parking garage, by helping them move to a different parking area out of public view, and then by allowing the ICE agents to secretly escort the patient out of the hospital back into ICE custody where he was taken away to an unknown location. Instead of protecting the rights of their patient, Highland Hospital and the Alameda County Sheriff’s office and hospital private security all protected the ICE agents.

We call on the Alameda County Board of Supervisors and AHS to ensure that Highland Hospital follows all Sanctuary City and County and State policies, including the guidance of the CA Attorney General’s office, to ensure that the patient’s rights are protected and that these abuses never happen again.

Please write to the following people:

James Jackson, Director of AHS:

jetjackson@alamedahealthsystem.org

Mark Fratzke, Chief Operating officer of AHS:

mfratzke@alamedahealthsystem.org

Alameda County Board of Supervisors:

David Haubert, Dist. 1(President)

(510) 272-6691

go to bos.alamedacountyca.gov and click on David Haubert’s photo and follow instructions to submit a form

Elisa Marquez, Dist. 2

District2@acgov.org

(510) 272-6692