Chelsea family files federal complaint over ICE detainment of man on Mother's Day

A family from Chelsea, Massachusetts, has filed a federal complaint over their treatment by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents during an arrest on Mother’s Day.

In the May 11 incident, the family was leaving church when several federal agency vehicles intercepted them at the border between Everett and Chelsea, according to video of the incident shared with Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra. After several minutes of arguing, and refusing to obey their request to roll down their window, agents broke the window to remove the man from the car.

After removing the man from the car, agents threw him to the ground and handcuffed him. Inside the vehicle were the rest of his family, including his wife and children. With the agents above him, the man could be heard asking why they were arresting him, saying he wasn’t resisting.

Laywers for Civil Rights, which has filed a complaint under the Federal Tort Claims Act on behalf of the family, said the man arrested was Daniel Flores-Martinez. His wife Kenia Guerrero, who is a U.S. citizen, was also held by police during the incident.

Flores-Martinez was taken to an immigration detention center where he remains in custody, having been denied a request for a stay of removal.

“My children watched as their father was physically attacked, treated like an animal, and ripped away from us,” Guerro said in a media release.. “They have so many questions, but I don’t have the answers. Why would the government tear our family apart like this? No mother should have to explain this kind of cruelty to her children.”

Layers for Civil Rights says this reflects a larger pattern of behavior by ICE.

Law enforcement officials cannot open the car door without justification. A car’s interior as a whole is subject to Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable intrusions. No family should experience this level of fear, intimidation, and violence, especially not in front of young children on Mother’s Day and the Sabbath,” said Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, executive director of Lawyers for Civil Rights.

We reached out to ICE after the initial incident for comment, but did not hear back at the time.

This is one of many apparent ICE operations that have caused controversy across the Greater Boston area in recent weeks, many of which have been captured on video. Agents were seen breaking a car window in New Bedford, Massachusetts, in April before taking a man inside into custody. That man was eventually released on bond when the government failed to provide charging documents.

There was a chaotic scene in Worcester when community members tried to prevent ICE agents from arresting a local mother. Video recorded by Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra on May 8 showed Worcester police, who were called in as the situation escalated,  holding a 16-year-old girl’s face to the ground. The 16-year-old and another woman, Ashley Spring, were arrested by Worcester police. A Worcester city councilor is also facing charges.

Turkish Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk was detained by federal agents on the streets of Somerville and sent to a detention center in Louisiana. She was released after weeks of legal back-and-forth, has returned to Massachusetts and continues to fight her immigration case.

In a press conference earlier this week, ICE acting director Todd Lyons defended the work of his agency and said these operations are in the interest of public safety. U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley further warned that anyone who interferes or obstructs operations is subject to prosecution.