Medical emergency turns into nightmare as ICE detains Mounds View couple en route to ER

Back pain sent Bonfilia Sanchez Dominguez to the ER, driven by her husband, Liborio Parral Ortiz.

But a stop by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents turned the Mounds View couple’s trip to the hospital into a nightmare.

Within 24 hours, Parral Ortiz was in ICE detention in El Paso, Texas, and Sanchez Dominguez was trapped at Mercy Hospital’s Unity Campus in Fridley, blocked by ICE agents and hospital staff from access to her bedside.

Security staff at the hospital also threatened to arrest the woman’s lawyer when he attempted to speak with her, the couple’s daughter, Shelly Parral Ortiz, said.

“They were just racially profiled and picked up and kidnapped without a destination,” she said, her voice breaking.

In a statement to Sahan Journal, Allina Health spokeswoman Jenny Griswold Steingas declined to comment on the case, citing patient privacy. Allina Health owns Mercy Hospital.

The statement said the hospital system “follows long-established procedures when interacting with law enforcement, including ICE.”

Liborio was on the phone with his daughter when he was pulled over.

“They got in front of their car and didn’t let them go past,” Shelly said. “They started opening their doors and pulling them. They were not asking them any questions, they just started grabbing them.”

Liborio Parral Ortiz was immediately taken into custody, while Sanchez Dominguez was taken by ICE to the hospital. According to his family, Parral Ortiz was moved to El Paso, Texas, less than 20 hours after he was initially detained, before they could bring him his diabetes medication.

Shelly and her brother arrived at the hospital later that morning to be with their mother, who had several ICE agents waiting outside her room. Shelly was told by hospital staff that if they left, they would not be allowed to return to see their mother.

Later that morning, Shelly accompanied her mother to an MRI scan. After the scan was complete, Shelly said her mother tried to leave the hospital.

Nurses took Sanchez Dominguez to her room and told Shelly and her brother to take the elevator and meet their mother there. When they arrived, hospital staff told her ICE agents said that the siblings were not allowed to be there.

The same morning, Ray Valenzuela, a pastor at the Minnetonka Seventh-Day Adventist Church, where the family attends services, arrived at the hospital to support the family. With his pastor ID and Bible in hand, Valenzuela asked at the front desk to see Sanchez Dominguez. The staff told him there was no one by that name under the care of the hospital.

Valenzuela contacted an attorney from the congregation, Paul Hultgren, who agreed to assist the family. When Hultgren went to Mercy Hospital, he was met with the same resistance from the front desk staff. A security guard then threatened to arrest Hultgren and the family friend for trespassing on hospital property, and followed them to their cars and recorded his license plate number.

Sahan also reached out to ICE and the DHS, and is awaiting a response.

ICE presence has been reported at hospitals across Minnesota, including at Regions Hospital in St. Paul and HCMC in Minneapolis.

“I think these facilities are unfortunately afraid to stand up to ICE,” Sharp said. “They’re doing something called anticipatory obedience, where they’re complying in advance out of fear of consequences or retribution later. They’re actually doing the administration’s work for them without being asked.”

Without a judicial warrant, ICE agents are not allowed to enter hospital premises without permission. Those protections diminish once they’re in the building, however. “Once you let them in, you can’t get them out,” Sharp said.

In its statement, Allina noted the “highly unusual” nature of having immigration agents in health care settings.

“While we are unable to provide patient information, we are aware of the concerns raised by Sahan Journal and extend our sincere sympathy to this family during a deeply distressing time. We are navigating a complex and unprecedented situation as we continue our commitment to caring for our community, while balancing our legal obligations related to patient privacy and interactions with law enforcement,” the statement said.

Shelly said her parents have spent 20 years in Minnesota after Parral Ortiz moved to the state for a manufacturing job at a local company.

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