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‘It’s Inhumane’: After Sunnyvale Father’s Deportation, Family Trauma Lingers

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Aby Peña speaks by phone with her husband, Ulises Peña Lopez, from their home in Sunnyvale on Feb. 19, 2026. Peña Lopez was deported to Mexico after being taken into ICE custody outside their home in February 2025, leaving his wife and young daughter in the Bay Area. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

In the early weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, Ulises Peña Lopez, a husband and father, was arrested by ICE outside his home in Sunnyvale. During the encounter, he says he was severely beaten and suffered a heart attack and stroke.

Last October, Ulises was deported to Mexico. Here in the Bay Area, his wife Aby and 4-year old daughter Emily are still reeling from the impacts of his deportation.

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Some members of the KQED podcast team are represented by The Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, San Francisco-Northern California Local.

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