A migrant man in Chelsea, Massachusetts, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Sunday, Mother’s Day, after leaving church with his family. The incident quickly gained attention after a video surfaced showing ICE agents breaking the man’s SUV window, violently throwing him to the ground, and handcuffing him.
The footage, first obtained by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra, shows ICE agents detaining the family after allegedly following their SUV for several blocks. After minutes of arguing and the family refusing to exit the vehicle, the agents smashed the window, dragged the man out, threw him to the ground, and handcuffed him.
The man’s wife, children, and grandmother remained inside the SUV, according to NBC News. In the video, the man on the ground appears confused, repeatedly asking why he is being arrested.
“This is an abuse, an abuse of rights,” said Mario Melendez, a local resident, in Spanish. “They’re violating the law, like breaking into your house, because he’s inside his car — which he paid for — and they want to violate his rights because he won’t open the door. They must respect that right.”
Kennet Santizo, who recorded the video, told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra that the mother’s screams were haunting.
“I heard her screaming, ‘Why him? He had papers, he had his license, why him?’” Santizo recalled.
He also said an officer quickly pulled out his gun after the encounter began, which frightened him. “I was scared; the gun was in his face, then he broke the window.”
Little information has been released about the family or the man’s whereabouts after the arrest. Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra contacted ICE for comment but received no immediate response.
Reports say the family stayed silent inside the vehicle after the father was taken, following common advice for undocumented migrants. Residents and city officials say ICE’s actions violate the law.
“Immigration agents and others are taking illegal actions. They don’t care much about law and order,” said Chelsea Councilman Roberto Jimenez Rivera. “They simply act, and we have taken steps to sue them, maintaining that we respect people’s rights. The city has already sued the administration for illegal actions against us.”
This is not the first aggressive ICE encounter in the state. Just last week in Chelsea, ICE arrested three young men and one of their fathers as they left the police station. In New Bedford last month, agents broke a man’s car window to take him into custody.
