Gerson Aaron Lopez-Funes had established a routine. Whether it was after school or camp, he and his family would pick up his 7-year-old daughter, and then head straight to a park.

The goal was to have his daughter, who's autistic and non-verbal, get rid of a bit more energy.

On Monday, they left the park and were on their way home when D.C. police pulled Funes over in Northwest D.C.

His sister, Estrella Lopez, said the stop was for an alleged failure to fully stop at a stop sign.

Neighbors, Lopez said, told another family member who got to the scene that they "witnessed my brother calmly asking questions as the officers were pulling him out of the car. My brother was trying to explain to them that my niece is autistic, and if he got out of the car, she was going to be crying in the car, and it was going to put her in a bad place."

The stop came days before President Donald Trump's crime emergency in D.C. was scheduled to end. Federal agents arrived on the scene, and Lopez said Funes was taken away.

He's originally from Honduras, but has lived in D.C. for over 10 years and has applied for asylum. A judge recently gave him a year to find a lawyer and return to court.

"It's been horrible," Lopez said. "The only brother I have from mom and dad was taken like a criminal."

According to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement records, Funes is in ICE custody and is currently at the Caroline Detention Facility in Caroline County, Virginia. Family members spoke to Funes Thursday morning, Lopez said, adding, "he gets mistreated verbally. It's very cold. He says it almost feels like a freezer."

Relatives are concerned, Lopez said, because Funes has asthma and needs medication "because he gets very anxious. And when he gets anxious, he triggers his asthma attacks."

Now, they're contacting various community groups and raising money to hire a lawyer, "so that we can potentially just get him out of there, where he is right now," Lopez said.

Meanwhile, Lopez said Funes' daughter hasn't been able to sleep. She cries a lot, because she's used to her dad telling her stories around bedtime, Lopez said.

"He is the main provider for his family, and I think he was just ripped apart from his family, and in a very unfair way," Lopez said.

"He was trying to speak to the officers, telling them that he wanted to stay silent when they asked him for his status. He didn't want to answer that question, because he felt discriminated. They didn't stop him to ask him that, he thought they stopped him for something else."

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