Family With Legal Status Files Civil Rights Complaint After ICE Brutality
Chelsea Family Traumatized After Violent Interaction With ICE
Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaint against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), on behalf of a Chelsea mother and her two children who were illegally and forcefully detained by ICE officers while accompanying a family member to a court hearing. The mother, Hilda Ramirez Sanan, has lived in the United States for more than 20 years and has lawful immigration status (green card). Her teenage children are both U.S. citizens.
The lawless interaction, much of which was captured on video, began mere feet from the Chelsea courthouse on the morning of September 26, 2025. Multiple unmarked vehicles surrounded and blocked Ms. Ramirez Sanan’s car, which had a clearly visible disability placard hanging from the rearview mirror. Within moments, at least eight armed and masked officers—without identifying themselves or giving the passengers a chance to cooperate or provide identification—swarmed Ms. Ramirez Sanan’s car and smashed her driver-side windows. Ms. Ramirez Sanan was covered in shards of glass.
ICE officers then forcefully pulled Ms. Ramirez Sanan, who is 50 years old, from the car. In a shocking display of lawlessness, the officers then violently arrested Ms. Ramirez Sanan—a lawful immigrant—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. 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.
ICE officers then attempted to abduct Ms. Ramirez Sanan, forcing her into one of their unmarked vehicles. Only when local police insisted that the ICE officers check Ms. Ramirez Sanan’s identification first—which showed her lawful status—did ICE release her.
Due to the violence inflicted by ICE, Ms. Ramirez Sanan could not walk, and local firefighters had to carry her to a chair for emergency assistance. An ambulance then took Ms. Ramirez Sanan and her two children to an emergency room. Ms. Ramirez Sanan suffered a concussion, bruising, and a painful radial nerve palsy from the force with which her arm was twisted while ICE officers violently handcuffed her.
The thirteen-year-old boy has been crying inconsolably, refusing to be separated from his mom, and unable to sleep due to recurring nightmares about the incident where he cries out, “Don’t kill my mom.” Every time the family passes by the scene, which is frequently because they live nearby, he repeats: “That’s where they hurt my mom.”
Ms. Ramirez Sanan’s car sat in the driveway with windows shattered by ICE—and unusable—for nearly a month, while she bore the costs of taxis for her and her children to get around, including to their follow-up medical appointments triggered by the violent encounter with ICE.
Ms. Ramirez Sanan and her children were physically injured, emotionally traumatized, and left with repair bills for the car smashed-up by ICE. They have no answers as to why their civil rights, constitutional rights, and basic human dignity were recklessly violated.
The incident reflects an alarming pattern of brazenly illegal and aggressive ICE operations in Massachusetts, where federal immigration officers are increasingly using force and arresting people indiscriminately without following well-established law, including their own standards of enforcement.
“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.”
LCR continues to demand accountability and an end to unlawful ICE operations, which are happening frequently in Chelsea and other immigrant communities and causing profound and lasting trauma. Ms. Ramirez Sanan and her children continue to experience severe psychological distress and recurring nightmares. Her 13-year-old son, who is on the Autism Spectrum, was next to his mother as she was violently arrested. Ms. Ramirez Sanan is devastated by the impact on her children.
“My family is broken and will never be the same,” said Hilda Ramirez Sanan. “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.”
LCR’s complaint, filed today with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, details how federal officers violated the family’s Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights, ignored federal statute and regulations for ICE enforcement, and committed multiple legal violations, including warrantless arrest, false imprisonment, assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The complaint is a required precursor to a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Boston.
Watch videos of the shocking interaction here.
Read the full complaint here.
Complaint photo credit: Brian Snyder/REUTERS