About a dozen Alameda Health System employees told administrators in a letter that the incident exposed “major hazards to the rights and safety of our patients.” They said workers at multiple levels were confused about policies for patients in civil immigration detention and argued the system’s preparation falls short of California requirements.

The man was taken to Highland for treatment after an ICE agent allegedly tackled him and fractured six of his ribs, said Nikolas De Bremaeker, an attorney with Centro Legal De La Raza who represents him. De Bremaeker said the agent later tried to obstruct access to counsel and influence medical care, and sought information from staff. He also alleged the agent who tackled the man sat on his hospital bed.

“It’s incredibly scary,” De Bremaeker said. “It’s just unacceptable for ICE agents to be terrorizing folks inside a hospital.”

The patient remained in ICE custody as of Thursday afternoon, De Bremaeker said. He also represents another man detained by ICE in Oakland’s San Antonio neighborhood on Oct. 16 and taken to a different hospital for injuries the attorney said resulted from officers’ actions.

Alameda Health System declined to discuss the care of De Bremaeker’s client, citing patient confidentiality. The system said law enforcement does not direct medical treatment and that it is following applicable laws and immigration-response protocols. It said it activated an incident command center and has security staff monitoring developments. AHS also said Highland property is not being used as a staging area, operations base or processing site; immigration vehicles there are connected only to the patient in custody.

Some employees say the guidance they have received is not enough. Ansel Schmidt, a Highland physical therapist who helped draft the letter but is not on the patient’s care team, said he had not received what he would consider training. Instead, he said, workers received a pocket reference known as a “badge buddy” that he believes can suggest staff may cooperate with ICE.

The guide directs staff to notify an administrator when a patient in ICE custody arrives, ask agents to leave during a medical evaluation and inform patients of their rights. If a patient does not meet admission criteria, the guide says, staff can transfer the person to ICE’s control office.

Iman Khalil, a respiratory therapist at San Leandro Hospital, another Alameda Health System facility, said staff there received minimal instruction and the same badge guide and emails as Schmidt. “Allowing the agents in the hospital … undoes all that training,” Khalil said.

AHS CEO James Jackson wrote in an Oct. 19 email to employees that the system believed the man in ICE custody was part of the agency’s civil immigration enforcement authority and urged staff to review existing response protocols.

California Senate Bill 81, which took effect in September 2025, restricts the sharing of certain immigration information by health care providers. It also requires facilities to inform staff how to respond to requests for access to nonpublic areas and to establish visitor procedures. The employees’ letter said the system was not meeting the law’s requirements.

The hospital sits on Alameda County property and is covered by the county’s “ICE-free zone” ordinance, which limits cooperation with federal immigration authorities. The policy does not prevent federal agents from entering county property, county officials have said, underscoring the limits of such measures even as local leaders and advocates promote them as a way to resist federal enforcement.

Community members have kept watch outside Highland since Monday, with about two dozen people on site Thursday morning and organizers directing them to alert others if agents entered or left. Renee Coe, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said some people were afraid to seek care because of the federal presence. She urged residents not to delay medical treatment.

De Bremaeker called for a congressional inquiry into ICE activity, particularly at hospitals. Oakland residents planned an emergency news conference outside Highland on Friday evening to call for the detainee’s release and accountability from local officials, hospital security contractors and Alameda Health System.