A Sunnyvale man who suffered an acute medical emergency following his arrest by immigration authorities last year filed a federal lawsuit Monday alleging civil rights violations.
Ulises Peña Lopez and his family are seeking damages for what they describe in the lawsuit as a “cascade of harms,” resulting from a “violent ICE arrest” in which “officers began kicking and beating Ulises, punching him in the ribs, stomach, arms, legs, and neck.” He was subsequently transported by ambulance to El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.
Lopez then spent more than six months in immigration detention, where he was subjected to further mistreatment and medical neglect that left him severely disabled, according to the lawsuit, which was filed July 6 with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Lopez was ultimately deported to Mexico.
“This [lawsuit] is part of a broader context of heightened immigration enforcement around the Bay Area and the Central Valley,” Elena Hodges, co-director of Pangea Legal Services and an attorney representing Lopez, told this publication. “People are being brutalized during enforcement actions and then spirited away to these remote detention centers.”
The lawsuit names the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and GEO Group and CoreCivic, two private prison contractors, as defendants.
In an emailed statement, a DHS spokesperson denied the lawsuit’s allegations.
“In accordance with established ICE policies and their training, staff always use the minimum amount of force to safely deescalate situations,” said the spokesperson, who declined to give their name.
The spokesperson also claimed that Lopez, a Mexican citizen who was living in the United States without authorization, had prior arrests in the U.S. for “terroristic threats, domestic violence, cruelty towards a child, DUI, aggravated assault with a weapon, and contempt of court.” The spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request to provide documentation of these charges.
According to Lopez’s attorney, the Department of Homeland Security is overstating his criminal history. Hodges told this publication that Lopez had “four convictions total, all nonviolent” and that he “was sentenced to one day of jail time total across all the cases.”
“DHS cannot use Ulises’s criminal legal history as cover for severe, pervasive violations of his civil and disability rights,” Hodges said in an email. “When a community member serves their time in prison or jail and earns their release, they should be allowed to reunite with their family and contribute to our communities.”
ICE arrest and hospitalization
In February 2025, Lopez was arrested by ICE outside his home as he was leaving for work. According to the lawsuit, about a dozen agents surrounded Lopez’s truck, blocked him from leaving and ordered him to step out of the vehicle. Lopez complied and did not resist arrest, the lawsuit said.
During the arrest, an officer allegedly placed a gun to Lopez’s head while others “forced him to the ground” and “rammed him against the car while beating him with closed fists, striking multiple blows to his ribs and neck,” the lawsuit said.
The incident was witnessed by Lopez’s wife and 3-year-old daughter. Lopez’s wife, a U.S. citizen, informed ICE officers that her husband had a chronic medical condition, related to a work injury from lifting heavy objects. The condition – a vertebral artery dissection that could lead to a stroke – was being managed with medication and neurological monitoring, the lawsuit said.
Soon afterwards, Lopez was put in a transport vehicle by ICE agents. During the drive, Lopez started to convulse, causing the driver to pull into an alley, the lawsuit said. Officers then took Lopez, who was handcuffed, out of the vehicle. Lopez fell to the ground, striking his head, the lawsuit said.
The suit alleges that officers beat, kicked and hurled profanities at Lopez while he was on the ground. One officer allegedly put his hand on Lopez’s throat and cut off his air supply. According to the lawsuit, Lopez lost consciousness twice. Paramedics were then called in to assist Lopez, taking him to the emergency room at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.
While hospitalized, Lopez was shackled to his bed and “subjected to intimidation” by ICE officers, preventing him “from receiving care with full doctor-patient confidentiality,” according to the lawsuit.
Lopez was also denied access to his attorney for “multiple hours” and when the attorney was allowed to meet with Lopez, the visit occurred in the presence of two armed officers, the lawsuit said. Lopez’s wife was also not allowed to see her husband until 30 hours after he was admitted to the hospital, the lawsuit said.
Golden State Annex and California City
After one night at El Camino Hospital, Lopez was discharged and transferred to the Golden State Annex in McFarland, an immigration detention center owned and operated by GEO Group, a private prison company headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. There have been allegations of rights violations and abuses at the facility, including over-disciplining of detainees and poor physical and mental health care, according to a recent report from the California Department of Justice.
The lawsuit alleges that Golden State Annex staff “failed to perform an adequate health and disability screening, or determine what accommodations he would need based on his disabilities.”
One day later, Lopez collapsed in the recreation yard of the facility, after experiencing chest pain, trouble breathing and neurological symptoms, and was transported to a hospital. Lopez was discharged later that day with instructions for follow-up treatment but that treatment was never provided, according to the lawsuit.
Afterwards, Lopez was placed in “segregated housing” for 24 hours, which is medical isolation used in situations involving communicable disease or high risk for violent behavior, the lawsuit said. The lawsuit claims the hold further isolated Lopez and served as punishment for having medical and disability-related needs.
The lawsuit documents other alleged violations of ICE guidelines, including confinement for 18-20 hours per day, freezing temperatures, lights left on all night and denial of phone and outdoor access. Lopez was also subject to ridicule, taunts and profanities from staff for his disabilities and for the media attention around his legal case, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit also states that Lopez’s request for medical care and accommodations related to his disabilities was routinely ignored, delayed or denied. As a result, Lopez’s “vascular injury progressed with new and worsening symptoms,” the lawsuit said. Those symptoms included headaches, eye pain, hearing loss, insomnia, nightmares, blurry vision, back pain and difficulty walking. Lopez now uses a cane to walk, which he did not need prior to his arrest or detention, the lawsuit said.
GEO Group did not respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit’s allegations.
A DHS spokesperson said that any claims of “subprime medical care at ICE facilities” was false and that it is “longstanding practice to provide comprehensive medical care” once a person enters ICE custody.
“This includes medical, dental, and mental health services as available, and access to medical appointments and 24-hour emergency care,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
In August 2025, Lopez was transferred to a recently opened immigration detention center in California City, operated by CoreCivic, another private prison company. In November, a separate class-action lawsuit was filed against the facility by detainees, alleging “dire” conditions.
Ryan Gustin, a CoreCivic spokesperson, told this publication that the company did not typically comment on active litigation, referring to the Lopez lawsuit. However, he noted that “the safety, health and well-being” of detainees is a “top priority” for the company.
“We take seriously our responsibility to adhere to all applicable detention standards and policies that our government partners expect of us at our California City facility,” Gustin said in an emailed statement. “An onsite ICE Detention Standards Compliance Officer ensures we follow their strict standards and policies. All our facilities are subject to robust oversight and accountability measures.”
Gustin added that “facility staff work to ensure that accommodations are provided” for people with disabilities.
However, the lawsuit contends that Lopez continued to experience inadequate medical care and treatment that violated his rights, including temporarily confiscating his cane and withholding daily pain and heart medication for weeks at a time, or giving incomplete doses.
Lopez’s hearing, vision and mental health continued to decline at the detention center, the lawsuit said. Similar to the Golden State Annex, staff taunted and yelled at him and threatened him with solitary confinement for his disabilities, according to the lawsuit.
Deportation and damages
In October 2025, Lopez was deported to Mexico. Because of his visual and auditory disabilities, Lopez could not read or understand the legal paperwork, and he was forced to sign the deportation papers, the lawsuit said. Officials also allegedly took away Lopez’s cane and provided him with a small supply of medication, the lawsuit said.
Since his deportation, Lopez has been living in hiding because he fears being tortured and killed, the lawsuit said. Lopez’s daily life in Mexico has been impaired by his disabilities, which continue to worsen, and he requires surgery that would cost roughly $23,000-$32,000, according to the lawsuit. The surgery is the direct result of the ICE arrest and his treatment at the immigration detention centers, the lawsuit alleges.
Lopez’s wife and child also have experienced severe emotional distress and financial hardship since his arrest and deportation, the lawsuit said. Lopez was the sole income earner for the family prior to the arrest. His wife is now working, but the income is still less than what her husband once earned, the lawsuit said.
Lopez and his family are seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, as well as payment to cover their attorney fees. The lawsuit also seeks a declaration from the defendants acknowledging that they failed to provide reasonable accommodations for Lopez’s disabilities while he was detained and that the conditions in the detention facilities were unconstitutional.
“They see this case as bigger than themselves and their family,” Hodges said. “Their hope is to just continue to fight on behalf of their whole community… This family really wants to contribute to the movement to make sure this doesn’t happen again to anybody else.”
