LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A 36-year-old woman who was removed from a hospital in Glendale has apparently been relocated to an Anaheim facility without explanation, according to advocates on her behalf.
“[Friday] morning Milagro Solis Portillo was forcibly dragged kicking and screaming out of a side exit of Glendale Memorial Hospital by 3 plain clothed people with face masks who presented what appeared to be a federal warrant despite her medical team fighting for her and stating clearly she is not able to be discharged,” her advocates wrote on Instagram. “The family was told she was taken to Anaheim Global Medical Center. Family advocates were told by hospital staff that they will not be disclosing any information. And that it is their policy that if a patient is detained, they will not share any information. This state violence puts Milagro’s life in grave danger. We need accountability now. We are calling on community, elected officials, hospital workers, and every person of conscience to show up and demand justice.”
Portillo had been hospitalized at Dignity Health Glendale Memorial Hospital since being injured during a July 3 immigration detention action in Sherman Oaks.
The continued presence of Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in green fatigues and masks in the hospital’s lobby and hallways had drawn outrage from community activists, some elected officials and representatives of nursing organizations who said Portillo deserved “to heal in safety and dignity, free from intimidation and fear.”
Activists had said the presence of ICE agents was “creating a hostile and frightening environment for her, other patients, and hospital staff. Their presence is invasive and inappropriate in a medical setting.”
U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials told the Los Angeles Times, in a statement, that Portillo “is an illegal alien from El Salvador who has been removed from the United States twice and has been arrested for crimes of false identification, theft, and burglary.”
Regarding her hospitalization and recovery, DHS told ABC7 “Following her arrest, she was admitted to Glendale Memorial Hospital. ICE takes its commitment to promoting safe, secure, humane environments for those in our custody very seriously. It is a longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care from the moment an alien enters ICE custody. This includes access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care.”
In a Friday morning email, family contact Maggie Sisco said Portillo was removed between 5:45 and 6:30 a.m. “despite the treating physician and medical team telling them she is not medically stable and ready for discharge.”
A statement issued on Portillo’s behalf by the Immigrant Defenders Law Center said she was arrested at her home by two officers who refused to identify themselves or produce a signed judicial warrant for her arrest.
Center officials claimed the officers twisted her arms and threw her to the ground, leading to injuries so severe she began vomiting and choking in the car while she was handcuffed and was left in her own vomit for about eight hours between the time of her initial detention and when she was admitted to the hospital.
Portillo, in her statement through the law center, said she has “never had a single criminal conviction.”
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