Yohendry de Jesús Crespo Álvarez and his wife Darianny Liseth González de Crespo pose for a photo with their 7-year-old daughter, Diana Crespo González. The family had recently moved into an apartment in Gresham before federal immigration agents detained them in January in a Portland hospital parking lot. (Photo courtesy of Ana Mendoza via Oregon Capital Chronicle)

The family detained by federal agents in a Portland hospital’s parking lot is headed back to Oregon after being released from immigration detention in Texas. 

U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter, D-Oregon, announced Friday afternoon that she is escorting the Crespo-González family back to Portland after they spent almost a month at the South Texas Family Residential Center.

U.S. Border Patrol agents on Jan. 16 detained Darianny Liseth González de Crespo, her husband Yohendry de Jesús Crespo and their 7-year-old daughter Diana in the parking lot of Adventist Health Center in Portland while they sought medical attention for the child’s persistent nosebleed.

As a member of Congress, Dexter can conduct oversight visits to immigration detention facilities. The family physician and Democrat, representing Oregon’s 3rd Congressional District spanning east Portland to Hood River, traveled to Texas on Thursday to visit the family but was denied entry to the detention facility. She visited the facility again on Friday and secured their release.  

Dexter’s team did not specify the steps she took for their release, but she cited legal protections for immigrant children in U.S. custody. Under the 1997 Flores Agreement, children cannot be detained for more than 20 days. 

Friday marked the 21st day that the family has been in custody.

“I’m 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,” Dexter said in a statement. “Detention of children and families is immoral.  End family detention. Defund and dismantle ICE. That is the moral path forward.”

State Rep. Ricki Ruiz, D-Gresham, has been outspoken about the case, bringing up the family’s situation in his opening remarks twice this week to his colleagues in the Oregon House. Ruiz represents the city where the family resides. 

“As 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,” he said in a statement. “No family should ever have to experience that, especially while you’re trying to see a doctor.” 

While grateful for the family’s release, Ruiz said the case exposed serious concerns about the treatment of children in detention and the lack of transparency inside immigration detention facilities.

Oregon Capital Chronicle

Oregon Capital Chronicle is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oregon Capital Chronicle maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Lynne Terry for questions: info@oregoncapitalchronicle.com. Follow Oregon Capital Chronicle on Facebook and X.

Mia Maldonado began working at the Oregon Capital Chronicle in 2025 to cover the Oregon Legislature and state agencies with a focus on social services. She began her journalism career with the Capital Chronicle's sister outlet in Idaho, the Idaho Capital Sun, where she received multiple awards for her coverage of the environment and Latino affairs. She has a bachelor's degree in Spanish and international political economy from the College of Idaho. Born and raised in the West, Mia enjoys hiking, skiing and rockhounding in her free time.