A lawsuit has been filed by Lawyers for Civil Rights on behalf of Hilda Ramirez Sanan, a Chelsea mother who has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for over two decades, and her two U.S. citizen children, following an alleged "violent" and "unlawful" arrest by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers. According to the lawsuit, during an attempt to accompany a family member to court, several unmarked ICE vehicles surrounded Sanan’s car without warning and officers proceeded to smash the windows and extract the occupants, as reported by Boston 25 News. The 13-year-old son of Ramirez Sanan, who is on the autism spectrum, was forcibly removed from the vehicle while visibly distressed.
The lawsuit alleges that, without even stopping to identify themselves or explain their actions, ICE officers "surrounded the car and used a sharp tool to shatter both the front and back windows on the driver side," resulting in Hilda Ramirez Sanan and her family member being hit with shards of glass. They then "violently arrested Ramirez Sanan" and smashed her "against the ground face-first," an event which was witnessed by her traumatized children, as per a report by The Guardian.
Ramirez Sanan and her children were later taken by ambulance to an emergency room where she was treated for a concussion, bruising, and radial nerve palsy. Sanan states, "My family is broken and will never be the same," highlighting the lasting trauma inflicted upon her and her children, as noted by The Guardian. She seeks to prevent similar incidents from happening to other families through the legal action wherein Lawyers for Civil Rights advocate on their behalf, demanding justice and accountability from ICE.
The incident has reportedly left deep psychological scars, especially on the young boy, as identified in the lawsuit. The boy has been suffering from recurring nightmares and cries inconsolably at the sight of the place where the officers, without providing warrants or reasons for their actions, "forcefully twisting her arms back to handcuff her, kicking her, and smashing her against the ground face-first – all in front of her terrified children," The Guardian quotes the complaint as saying. The local police intervention, which led to the family's release after ICE officers verified Ramirez Sanan's legal status, was a small relief in an otherwise harrowing encounter.
Jillian Lenson, a senior attorney at Lawyers for Civil Rights, has expressed deep concern over the incident, asserting that "The extreme and senseless cruelty invoked on longstanding Chelsea residents in the heart of their community should shock and alarm all of us." The advocacy group demand $1 million in damages, as documented in the lawsuit. Despite reaching out to ICE, both Boston 25 News and The Guardian have yet to receive a response for their request for comments on the matter.
