Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Chelsea family with legal status files complaint after violent ICE encounter, lawyers say
Hilda Ramirez Sanan and her two children were detained by ICE officers while accompanying a family member to a court hearing, LCR said.
An immigration group filed a civil rights complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Monday on behalf of a Chelsea mother and her children with legal status who had a violent interaction with agents in September, the group said.
“My family is broken and will never be the same,” the mother said. “I don’t know how to explain to my children why ICE treated us this way. I am still in daily pain from my injuries.”
Hilda Ramirez Sanan, 50, and her two children were detained by ICE officers while accompanying a family member to a court hearing, Lawyers for Civil Rights, the group that filed the complaint, said in a press release.
Advertisement:
Sanan has a green card and has lived in the United States for more than 20 years, the legal group said.
On Sept. 26, near the Chelsea courthouse, several unmarked vehicles surrounded Sanan’s car. At least eight masked agents swarmed the vehicle and smashed the driver’s side window, covering Sanan in glass, according to the release.
Officers forced Sanan from the car and arrested her “by forcefully twisting her arms back to handcuff her, kicking her, and smashing her against the ground face-first,” the release said.
Agents also pulled one of Sanan’s children, a 13-year-old on the autism spectrum, out of the car and questioned him. An officer allegedly threatened to arrest him if he did not show proof of his legal status, “despite his age, obvious distress, and disability,” the release said.
Advertisement:
Videos shared by Lawyers for Civil Rights show agents holding one of Sanan’s children against the hood of a car and arresting him while Sanan pleads with agents to listen to her and be careful with her son.
“As a mother, the hardest part is seeing how scared and traumatized my children are,” Sanan said. “I hope to help prevent this from happening to other innocent families.”
ICE officers attempted to put Sanan into a vehicle, but released her after authorities from the Chelsea police and fire departments insisted the agents check Sanan’s legal status, according to the release.
ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
After the incident, Sanan suffered a concussion, bruising, and a radial nerve palsy in her arm, officials said.
The complaint is filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which lets people sue the government for injuries caused by federal employees acting negligently within their jobs.
“The extreme and senseless cruelty invoked on longstanding Chelsea residents in the heart of their community should shock and alarm all of us,” said Jillian Lenson, a senior attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights. “The family deserves justice. We will keep fighting for accountability and justice on behalf of immigrants and their families.”
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com