Chelsea High Student Testifies before Congress on ICE Abuses

Special to the Record

Michelle Ramirez Sanan, an 18-year-old Chelsea High School student, testified before Congress last week highlighting the details of her family’s arrest and detention by ICE officers last September. Sanan spoke about her family’s traumatic experience and the enduring harm she said it has caused them. She was joined by other teenagers, mothers, and the Superintendent of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos’ school district during the hearing convened by U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The hearing is the latest in a series led by the legislators to uncover unlawful and abusive immigration enforcement tactics. The last hearing focused on ICE’s warrantless home invasions. “I have a younger brother who has autism, and we live with our mom, who takes care of us on her own,” Sanan testified during the hearing on Tuesday, March 24. “We are all very close and I am very protective of my brother. Since President Trump took office, it’s been hard to see so many people hurt by ICE.” Because Sanan and her brother are U.S. citizens, she said her mother, Hilda Ramirez, has legal status, and she felt like her family was safe. “That all changed last year on September 26, when my family was stopped by ICE in our neighborhood,” Sanan said. “When I found out, I rushed to get to them as fast as I could. When I arrived, the first thing I saw was our car with shattered windows.” She said she was terrified that her mother and brother were already gone before she saw them surrounded by ICE. “My brother was crying next to my mom, who was being pushed against a fence and handcuffed,” Sanan said. “Most ICE officers were wearing masks. I could see they had guns.” Sanan tried to get to her family, but was stopped by a masked officer who grabbed her wrists, Sanan said. “My brother doesn’t speak very much because of his disability,” said Sanan. “He doesn’t know how to explain that he’s an American citizen. I was terrified that the officers were going to hurt him or take him away. I tried to protect him by yelling out: ‘My brother has autism!’ But instead of helping him, the ICE officer kept blocking me and told me to ‘shut up.’” ICE officers slammed Sanan’s mother to the ground, before finally releasing her brother, she testified. She said Chelsea police then arrived and told ICE to check her mother’s identification. “The entire incident lasted about half an hour,” Sanan said. “But my family and I will never be the same. Since that day, I have had a harder time focusing in school, taking care of myself, and managing my anxiety. I have had trouble sleeping and headaches.” In December, Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) filed a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) complaint against ICE on behalf of the Ramirez Sanan family.  ICE officials have previously claimed that it was attempting to apprehend Ramirez’s brother-in-law, Jose Ramirez-Perez, who it claimed was in the country illegally and is facing child sex abuse charges out of Guatemala.