On April 1, 2026, Teen Vogue published the following op-ed from LCR’s client, a high school senior who testified in Congress.
I Spent My Senior Year Fighting ICE. When Will Justice Come?
By Ana Michelle Ramirez Sanan
In this op-ed, high school senior Ana Michelle Ramirez Sanan explains why she testified at a congressional forum about DHS.
I am a high school senior in Chelsea, Massachusetts. This year was supposed to be about milestones: graduating and getting ready for college. Instead, I testified before Congress and helped my family file a federal complaint against ICE. It’s not how most 18-year-olds expect to spend their senior year. But after ICE stopped some of my family, it became my reality.
When people talk about immigration, they usually talk about policies and politics. What sometimes gets lost is what immigration enforcement does to families like mine, especially to young people, just because of the color of their skin or the community they live in. I am a US citizen. My younger brother is a US citizen. My mother has legal status. But none of that protected us from ICE.
In September, ICE stopped my family and shattered our car windows. My family was surrounded by armed ICE officers, most of whom were masked. My brother, who has autism, was crying. I watched ICE officers violently slam my mom to the ground as she cried out in pain.
No child should have to watch a parent getting handcuffed. But few people understand what ICE raids look like in immigrant communities like mine. In Chelsea, ICE isn’t just targeting individuals; ICE targets entire families and neighborhoods, and teenagers are uniquely affected. We are still children, but we are old enough to fully understand what is happening. We witness the violence, we try to explain things to ICE, and we comfort younger siblings. Afterward, we carry the fear and trauma into classrooms and everyday life.
The damage doesn’t end when ICE leaves. It stays with us. It takes what’s left of our innocence and childhood.
Last week, I testified before Congress at a bicameral public forum on how DHS tactics and policies are harming children, because young people—especially from communities like mine—are often not part of these conversations, even though we live with the consequences. I was proud to join two other teenagers to speak up for our communities and for other children who are suffering. We don’t deserve this. Not as children, not as citizens, and most of all, not as human beings.
People sometimes defend ICE by talking about law and order. But when officers use force without justification or even verifying legal status, that’s not safety. It’s an abuse of power. With the support of Lawyers for Civil Rights, my family filed a federal complaint against ICE and we are planning to take ICE to federal court. But families shouldn’t have to get lawyers or relive the worst day of their lives just to be heard or treated fairly. ICE shouldn’t be hurting people in the first place.
I am telling my story because many immigrant families like mine cannot speak out. But we all deserve safety, dignity, and justice. I hope that sharing my experience helps other teenagers feel less alone. And I hope that it helps bring accountability and stops ICE from harming children. I grew up so proud to be a citizen of this country. I know we are better than this.
Published in Teen Vogue.