A video showing agents of the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) bursting into a room, leaving a woman traumatised and a baby crying, has surfaced on social media. The footage sparked widespread outrage, with many remarking, “How is this legal?”
The video opens to show the inside of a room with the door closed. Within minutes, the door is broken as ICE agents start screaming, “Police, don’t move, hands up,” while pointing their guns at the people inside the room. As two men walk towards the door with their hands up, a baby is heard crying off-camera. HT.com has not independently verified the video.
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Speaking to the Independent, the baby’s grandmother, Gloria Bautista, said the incident left the infant’s mother, Mari Magana, “shaken.”
“The mother is so traumatized that anything scares her, she's shaking all the time.”
{{/usCountry}}“The mother is so traumatized that anything scares her, she's shaking all the time.”
{{/usCountry}}Magana wrote about her ordeal on social media while sharing the footage, which is now viral. “This is unfair they scared my baby,” she wrote, adding, “We are not criminals to be treated that way let alone point us with guns.”
The two men who were detained were taken to a detention center in nearby Tacoma, Washington, reported the Independent. Reportedly, one of those detained was grabbed by the hair by ICE agents.
How did social media react?
An individual remarked, “How can this be legal?” Another posted, “Is this a great America? Are you people in the USA ok with it?” A third expressed, “Humanity. Where has it gone?” A fourth wrote, “What crime did they commit worth this type of force?”
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How did the government respond?
A senior member of the Department of Homeland Security denied that there were any injuries during the arrest. “No injuries were sustained.” The individual added that the ICE agents were targeting “a previously removed violent criminal illegal alien from Mexico” who remains at large.
“ICE officers attempted to pull this criminal illegal alien over in a vehicle stop,” the official said. “He attempted to evade arrest and rammed into a United States Postal Service vehicle before fleeing on foot into an apartment. After refusals to come out, law enforcement entered the apartment.”
“The target escaped and remains at-large,” the official added. “Two other aliens from Mexico were found inside the apartment and taken into ICE custody at the scene.”