Diana Crespo, 7, and her parents spent three weeks in a Texas detention center, locked up 2,000 miles from their Gresham home after federal immigration officers detained them in a clinic parking lot.
On Wednesday, days after they flew home with an Oregon congresswoman, Diana and parents Darianny González and Yohendry Crespo were guests of honor at the Oregon House of Representatives.
The family stood on the House floor sidelines as Rep. Ricki Ruiz, a Democrat who represents the city where they reside, introduced them to his colleagues. The Venezuelan family came to the U.S. in 2024 and was granted humanitarian parole under the Biden administration. Despite having an active asylum case with a court date set in 2028, the Trump administration revoked the parole program they used to enter the country.
The Crespo-González family’s detention drew statewide attention because they were detained while seeking urgent care for Diana’s prolonged nosebleed. Their detention occurred nearly one year after the Trump administration rescinded a policy that previously protected hospitals, schools and places of worship against immigration enforcement.
U.S. Border Patrol agents detained them before Diana could see a doctor. She didn’t receive medical attention until days later because she had a fever.
“That family is here with us today,” Ruiz told his colleagues. “What should have been a moment of care and compassion became a moment of fear and separation, and yet through advocacy, persistence and love, this family is now back home and here in the people’s house.”
Diana, wearing a pink fluffy sweater and holding a bird plushy, smiled as she sat alongside her parents.
Democratic House leaders welcomed them, including House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene who Ruiz’s team introduced as “la mera mera,” or “the boss,” in Spanish. House Majority Leader Ben Bowman, D-Tigard, introduced himself to the family as “menos importante,” or as a less important guy than Fahey.
Several other lawmakers greeted the family and gave Diana chocolates and pins, including Heppner Republican Rep. Greg Smith, and Kyle Bunch, a staff member and son of Rep. Matt Bunch, a Clackamas County Republican.
Ruiz had McDonald’s delivered to his office for Diana, who while detained told investigative news outlet ProPublica that she missed going to the American fast food chain.
Lawmakers regularly bring guests to the House floor and can introduce them to colleagues during opening remarks.
For 21 days, the family was at the South Texas Family Residential Center, located 70 miles south of San Antonio. It’s the main detention center where the federal government places immigrant families. The detention center last week imposed a quarantine after confirming two active measles cases.
The family was released from a Texas detention center on Friday after U.S. Rep. Maxine Dexter visited them in custody and advocated for their release. Innovation Law Lab, a Portland-based immigration law firm representing the family, told the Oregon Capital Chronicle that under the 1997 Flores Agreement, children cannot normally be detained for more than 20 days.
By Mia Maldonado of news partner Oregon Capital Chronicle
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