The Daily Populous Tuesday December 16th, 2025 morning edition
Authored by theguardian.com and submitted by JackThaBongRipper

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.”

nickyinnj on December 15th, 2025 at 23:42 UTC »

$1m seems a bit low for a concussion and nerve injury, and traumatizing a child with autism.

GreedyNovel on December 15th, 2025 at 21:59 UTC »

She's lucky to have legal representation. So many do not.

stonewallace17 on December 15th, 2025 at 21:33 UTC »

meanwhile those ICE assholes are probably gonna get bonuses for this