Members of Stanford Hospital staff and more than 100 community members protested at a demonstration in Palo Alto on September 2nd. They called out the hospital administration for discharging East Palo Alto resident Aleyda Rodriguez to DHS before she was healthy, denying her visitation rights, and failing to inform the family of her release, amongst other things.
While family was initially able to visit Aleyda in the emergency department, they were quickly told they had to leave. Communication after that was no longer allowed, and armed federal agents appeared outside the victim’s hospital room door. At times there were as many as 8 or 9 agents in the patient’s room, reported her primary care physician Dr. Yusra Hussain at the rally. Dr. Hussain, who would normally have hospital privileges to visit her patient, was harassed by agents who even questioned her credentials, she said.
On August 29, Rodriguez was whisked away to an ICE detention facility in Bakersfield without family notification and while she was in a catatonic state, barely able to respond to questions by squeezing a hand. The doctor who allowed her release reportedly said, “I did nothing to jeopardize my license,” when asked why this happened…