Pregnant US citizen detained by ICE in Hawthorne, California – NBC Los Angeles

A U.S. citizen who is nine months pregnant was hospitalized upon her release from immigration custody after she was detained by federal agents in Hawthorne on Sunday.

Cary Lopez has been experiencing sharp pains in her stomach after immigration agents arrested her, despite being a United States citizen. She said the federal agents accused her of obstructing the arrest of her undocumented husband.

Stream Los Angeles News for free, 24/7, wherever you are. WATCH HERE WATCH HERE

“They had us all surrounded,” she said.

Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning with NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter. SIGN UP SIGN UP

The confrontation, which took place near the intersection of 120th Street and Hawthorne Way, was caught on camera. In the video, agents who hid their faces with masks and sunglasses and traveled in marked border patrol vehicles, are informed they were on private property.

“Excuse me, ma’am, listen to me, you are interfering with my arrest,” the agent said. “I am doing my job. You don’t have nothing to say.”

Lopez is then heard informing that they were on private property, and she asked them to leave. According to Lopez, the agents accused her of trying to obstruct their operation.

“I was blocking the doors because they were trying to forcibly open them, but I told them they were on private property,” the woman said.

At the time, Lopez was with her husband and his coworker – both of whom are undocumented. The confrontation happened when they tried to pull into the building of their workplace. Lopez and her husband were ultimately arrested, along with his coworker and her cousin.

“I had lost my balance because he was kind of shoving me away from the door,” a tearful Lopez said. “That’s when I kind of leaned forward, trying to protect the stomach."

Lopez’s due date wasn’t for another week, but after her experience, her doctors have been monitoring her well-being as well as that of her baby.

“I wasn’t resisting or anything,” she said. “I can’t fight back; I’m pregnant.”

Lopez was told agents would be in contact with her about their allegations of obstruction. She said she wasn’t given any documents or citations in connection with the arrest.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has not returned NBC4’s request for comment.