{"id":454180,"date":"2026-02-07T08:57:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:57:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454180\/"},"modified":"2026-02-07T08:57:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T08:57:10","slug":"oregon-family-released-on-their-way-home-from-texas-detention-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/454180\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon family released, on their way home from Texas detention center"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"IWDASZ5KIZB63GRNWMVEABRIRA\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/portland\/2026\/02\/oregon-7-year-old-and-parents-arrested-at-er-still-held-in-ice-center-in-texas.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/portland\/2026\/02\/oregon-7-year-old-and-parents-arrested-at-er-still-held-in-ice-center-in-texas.html\">Oregon 7-year-old and her parents<\/a> who were arrested outside a Portland hospital ER three weeks ago are on their way home after U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter apparently secured their release. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"SGZWFFFOF5CZFHLK3QRCPHGDIU\">The family from Gresham \u2013 father Yohendry De Jesus Crespo, mother Darianny Liseth Gonzalez de Crespo and their daughter, Diana Crespo-Gonzalez &#8212; are expected to arrive early Saturday in Portland. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ODKYW5FE2NHVBFDK3K6VT74DVE\">Friday marked the 22nd day of the Gresham family\u2019s detention. That\u2019s despite a decades-old federal policy stemming from a court settlement that limits the immigration detention of children to no more than 20 days. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"3CSM66EYUREAFCH555LCSN7WIE\">\u201cI\u2019m filled with joy that our Oregon family is coming home and yet outraged for the many other children and families who remain imprisoned by our government. Detention of children and families is immoral,\u201d Dexter said in a statement. \u201cEnd family detention. Defund and dismantle ICE. That is the moral path forward.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"PEULEFZDXNFK3COKZKA3GGPDTU\">The family is originally from Venezuela, entered the U.S. legally in November 2024 and has a pending asylum petition, according to Ana Linares, a close family friend who lives in Portland. Linares said the family moved to Oregon from Utah in late October. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"CFJ3S4CVVJGERPABLEVOZ2P2FA\">A review of court records by The Oregonian\/OregonLive turned up no criminal history in Oregon or in Utah. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4LOR5Y74RZBNFE7T455IDHZYHQ\">Dexter didn\u2019t disclose details of negotiations that led to the family\u2019s release. She referred questions to their Portland lawyers. The Innovation Law Lab declined to comment on the case. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ZQN3ZXMYBBAOVFFV7LKHSAAIAI\">Immigration agents <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/portland\/2026\/01\/ice-detains-family-seeking-emergency-care-for-child-at-portland-hospital.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/portland\/2026\/01\/ice-detains-family-seeking-emergency-care-for-child-at-portland-hospital.html\">detained the family<\/a> in front of the Adventist Health emergency department on Jan. 16 as the parents sought emergency medical care for their daughter\u2019s prolonged nosebleed. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials did not reply to questions about why the family was detained. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"NIWJL7ZF5JHEHH3FJOQAS24AF4\">Dexter, D-Ore., traveled to Texas from Washington, D.C., to check on the family\u2019s welfare and to see if she could get them out. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"5MGBE4VDHNC7LO5GBPXVVUBPXY\">She <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/pacific-northwest-news\/2026\/02\/us-rep-denied-visit-with-detained-oregon-family-at-texas-center.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">was denied entry<\/a> into the Dilley Immigration Processing Center near San Antonio on Thursday afternoon and went back to the facility on Friday to again advocate for the family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"HVOV6M3LWBEGND6IAMKZ5O2BSU\">Several other supporters, including state Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, said they will be at the airport to welcome the child and her parents home. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ZN5MQOGTRZG3ZNKIPGQ47LOHAM\">Ruiz, who has chronicled the family\u2019s detention on his Facebook page and spoken about them to his fellow lawmakers in Salem, said he was relieved and grateful to learn about their release. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"TPDBZN2P45FA3PXFTKO2O5YUFY\">\u201cA child is free, and a family is together. That is what matters most,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cAs a parent of a 4-year-old, I cannot imagine the fear of watching your child get sick and not knowing whether they will receive the care they need. No family should ever have to experience that, especially while simply trying to see a doctor.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"R32PFF2HLNFQDKHQX6B5ECAPX4\">Ruiz added that the family\u2019s case exposed serious concerns about the treatment of children in detention and the lack of transparency and accountability inside detention facilities. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"VC7QW7JHMBD35EGJJ567AN5NRE\">\u201cI remain committed to continuing this work and to ensuring humane care, real oversight and dignity for every child and family,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"DZTW2N3XQFHU5GMBNEK424AGVQ\">Dilley, the country\u2019s largest family detention center, has been under lockdown due to a measles outbreak, with a quarantine and all movement halted at the facility since last Saturday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"EFHJRYXLYRA5HKFXXLEGBH6L7U\">The center, which currently holds more than 1,100 people including a 2-month-old baby, has been the subject of many reports and lawsuits detailing inadequate medical care, contaminated water, poor\u2011quality food, severely limited educational opportunities and significant psychological stress experienced by children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"JT7ZWPQ52VF2DLOYC4VJDK7ZNI\">The Dilley center is the same place where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos of Minnesota was detained with his father, both originally from Ecuador. The boy\u2019s viral bunny\u2011hat photo drew national attention after he was swept up with his father. The two were released last Saturday after 12 days in detention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"6GWZVZWMBNFKPHAUAMCJNOCIKU\">Since the Gresham family\u2019s arrest, Oregon lawmakers have been advocating for them with immigration authorities. Earlier this week, a nonprofit social justice group also started a public campaign to call for the release of the 7-year-old and her parents.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"QZMJ4DIZP5BXRO6VFGXTVW4564\">Linares, the family friend who was instrumental in making their case public, described a rush of emotions upon hearing of her friends\u2019 release. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"732TOVDWWRDWVEMSOEBGDP3DUY\">\u201cExcited, I cried, happy, overjoyed,\u201d she told The Oregonian\/OregonLive in Spanish. \u201cWhat a great feeling!\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"NPO4LXBI35CZRNGSGCOJ4WDWGY\">&#8212; Yesenia Amaro of The Oregonian\/OregonLive contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Oregon 7-year-old and her parents who were arrested outside a Portland hospital ER three weeks ago are&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,212560,64494,3006,3,18223,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":{"0":"post-454180","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-crespo-gonzalez","10":"tag-detention","11":"tag-family","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-portland","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}