US green card holder sues ICE over claims of
'violent assault'
================================================

A US immigrant with legal status and her two
American children have filed a lawsuit against
ICE, after they were hospitalized following a
"violent" and "unlawful" detention in
Massachusetts.

Hilda Ramirez Sanan, a green card holder who has
lived in the United States for more than 20
years, and her two US citizen children were
"illegally and forcefully detained", the lawsuit
alleges.

The lawsuit says Ramirez Sanan and her children
were detained while accompanying her brother-in-
law to a court hearing in Chelsea,
Massachusetts, on 26 September. When they
arrived at the courthouse four unmarked ICE
vehicles "surrounded and blocked" Ramirez
Sanan's car, according to the lawsuit.

"Within seconds, and without stopping to
identify themselves, ask any questions, or give
any warnings or orders for the passengers to
follow, the officers surrounded the car and used
a sharp tool to shatter both the front and back
windows on the driver side, hitting Ramirez
Sanan and [her brother-in-law] with shards of
glass," the lawsuit says.

Lawyers said ICE officers then "then violently
arrested Ramirez Sanan", "by 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 officers also reached into the car to
unbuckle her 13-year-old son's seatbelt and
grabbed his arms to forcibly pull the child -
who is on the autism spectrum - out of the car,"
lawyers for Ramirez Sanan, 50, said.

"ICE officers questioned the shaking, crying
13-year-old about his legal status, age, and who
he lived with. An officer threatened to arrest
the 13-year-old if he did not answer or produce
proof of legal status, despite his age, obvious
distress, and disability."

The ICE officers then attempted to force Ramirez
Sanan into one of the unmarked vehicles, the
lawsuit said. They only desisted when local
police asked them to check Ramirez Sanan's
identification, according to the lawsuit.

After the incident Ramirez Sanan and her
children were taken by ambulance to the
emergency room. Her lawyers said she suffered a
concussion, bruising, and a radial nerve palsy
from her arm was twisted while ICE officers
handcuffed her.

"My family is broken and will never be the
same," Ramirez Sanan 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.
As a mother, the hardest part is seeing how
scared and traumatized my children are. I hope
to help prevent this from happening to other
innocent families."

ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Ramirez
Sanan, who is seeking $1m in damages, by
advocacy group Lawyers for Civil Rights.

"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, senior attorney at
Lawyers for Civil Rights.

"The ICE officers did not even identify
themselves, let alone provide an explanation or
warrant, before violently assaulting the family.
The behavior was illegal, shameless, and
inhumane. The family deserves justice. We will
keep fighting for accountability and justice on
behalf of immigrants and their families."



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