In the video of the incident, which the family said occurred on Tuesday, the mother can be heard demanding her daughter’s return.
“They took my daughter, she’s 5 years old. She has autism spectrum,” the woman says in the video. “Give me my daughter back.”
The mother also explained that her daughter’s father “managed to run back into the parking lot of my house, but they grabbed the girl.”
The family said ICE agents challenged Edward Hip, a Guatemalan man who has lived in the United States for 22 years, to leave his home for his daughter.
“Is that your daughter? Come here so I can see those IDs,” an agent can be heard saying in the video, which shows him motioning toward the camera.
“Hey, I can give it through the door,” a man is heard saying in response.
“You can do it right here,” the agent says, pointing to the ground in front of himself.
The mother reported alleged harassment by the officers.
“They threatened us, saying that if we didn’t open the door within 15 minutes, they would enter the house,” she told Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra.
Leominster police arrived at the scene, recovered the child and returned her to the family.
It’s a bit of the bare minimum, but this was mentioned in the article:
They should be charging these agents for kidnapping/hostage taking, but at least they did in fact intervene to put a stop to the situation.
That’s a real slippery slope of police accountability. Never gonna happen.
It would be interesting to know if the local police will get fucked over for this.
Massachusetts is a sanctuary state in several ways, including that local police are not allowed to help ice unless there is also a crime. At least as far as the state goes, they’re good
Massachusetts police and public resources are not allowed to help ice unless there is also a crime. But actively opposing federal agents to s a much steeper ask
Arguably they can’t