Lee la historia en español en El Planeta.The pain in Ana Michelle Ramirez Sanan’s voice cut through the congressional forum on Tuesday, as the 18‑year‑old high schooler from Chelsea described how an ICE stop upended her family’s life — a rare firsthand account from a young Massachusetts resident, still living with the trauma federal agents left behind.What she saw that September morning, she told lawmakers, is seared into her memory: her family’s car sitting empty beside Chelsea District Court, its windows blown out, shards of glass scattered across the pavement. Seconds later, she spotted her mother pinned against a fence by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, while her 13‑year‑old brother, who has autism, sobbed beside her.“My brother doesn’t speak very much because of his disability,” Ramirez Sanan told lawmakers, after she traveled from Massachusetts to Washington, D.C., to speak to them Tuesday afternoon. “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,” Ramirez Sanan said.Ramirez Sanan was the last of three teenagers to testify. Two mothers and a school superintendent also traveled to testify before Congress in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, speaking about being assaulted or separated from their families by DHS agents.They were heard in a bicameral public forum hosted by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif. Tuesday marked the fourth such forum hosted by the lawmakers on how “violent tactics, a disregard for laws and constitutional rights and new DHS policies have harmed children in America,” according to Blumenthal.“ICE may have let my family go, but they took so much more from us,” Ramirez Sanan told the lawmakers. “Kids and teenagers who look like me aren’t safe, even in our own communities, even if we follow all the rules.”A Chelsea teenager’s testimonyRamirez Sanan’s mother, Hilda Ramirez Sanan, sat behind her in the forum, her arm still encased in a cast from her experience with ICE in September. The family filed a lawsuit against ICE in December 2025 through Lawyers for Civil Rights, a Boston nonprofit legal organization. They said they were “illegally and forcefully detained.”“Since that day, I have had a harder time focusing in school, taking care of myself and managing my anxiety,” Ramirez Sanan said in the forum. “I was so excited to enjoy my senior year before starting a new chapter in college, and now I spend so much of my time wondering why this happened to us.”It happened the morning of Sept. 26, 2025. Ramirez Sanan’s mother, Hilda Ramirez Sanan, was at the courthouse that Friday with her son, who has autism. They were accompanying a family member to a hearing.Suddenly, the family’s car was surrounded by multiple unmarked vehicles. About eight agents jumped out and swarmed their car, smashing the driver’s side window and covering them in glass. The agents were in plainclothes, did not identify themselves or give the family a chance to cooperate, Ramirez Sanan said.When she learned ICE had stopped her mother and brother, she rushed to the courthouse to see armed agents surrounding her family, she testified. Ramirez Sanan tried to run to them, but was blocked by “a masked officer who grabbed my wrist,” she said. Ramirez Sanan “tried to protect (her brother) by yelling out, ‘My brother has autism,’ but instead of helping him, the ICE officer kept blocking me and told me to ‘shut up,’” she told the lawmakers. Agents then arrested Hilda, Ramirez Sanan’s mother, twisting her arms behind her back, kicking her and smashing her face into the ground. Video of the detainment was previously shared by the family’s legal team.“I heard my mom cry out in pain. ICE officers slammed her on the ground and everything froze,” she testified. “I was so scared that she was hurt, that she wouldn’t be okay.”It took local police asking ICE to verify the family’s legal status before they were let go and taken to the hospital in an ambulance. Ramirez Sanan said the entire incident lasted about half an hour, but that she and her family “will never be the same.” “What if the police didn’t get there in time to stop ICE from taking my mom? What if ICE comes after us again? Each time I leave my house, a part of me worries that I won’t get home safe.” The teenager’s voice then began to break. One of the most difficult parts since the incident, Ramirez Sanan said, has been watching “the way my younger brother has changed because of his disability and age.”“He’s had a hard time processing what happened, even with medical and professional health support,” she said, adding that he went from “always wanting to go out to now just wanting to stay at home.” The child “spends more time alone” and has “nightmares and cries a lot.”“The first time he tried going back into our car, he called me crying and had to get out,” she said. “I am speaking out today for the families who can’t speak against ICE. I am speaking out today to help people understand who ICE is hurting. “I am a citizen. I’m also a sister, a high school student and a daughter. I like drawing, dancing and spending time with my family ... (ICE) made me feel like my family didn’t matter, and that no one would care what happens to us.”What did lawmakers say?Lawmakers pressed the witnesses not just to relive what happened, but to explain how they are supposed to move on. Blumenthal asked Arnaldo Bazan, a 16-year-old from Texas whose father was taken by DHS agents on what had begun as a celebratory morning at McDonald’s, what it was like to keep up with school since that day. “I feel empty inside without my dad,” he said. “I try to go back to things, but things don’t get back together.” Another witness, Fernando Hernández García, 18, told Blumenthal he has been “left alone” in the United States since his family’s detainment, only able to see his parents and sister through video calls.Turning to Superintendent Zena Stenvik in Minnesota — who oversees the district where 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos attends school — Blumenthal asked about the “ripple effect” on children who were never directly targeted. “No child is unscathed in my school district by Operation Metro Search,” Stenvik said, describing “a cloud of fear encompassing our entire community” and parents standing out “in below zero weather on every corner of every school to protect children.”Garcia called the panel “incredibly courageous” and asked Stenvik about the trauma she now sees “in your schools, to the children, to the families” because of federal immigration actions. U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) thanked the witnesses and called Stenvik “an example of heroes, standing up for kids.” For Ramirez Sanan, “standing up” meant traveling from Chelsea to tell members of Congress that even though ICE released her family, the encounter still shapes their daily lives — and months later, even an ordinary drive past Chelsea District Court still feels like the beginning of another stop.ICE claims drug defendant tackled outside court is ‘criminal’ who entered US illegally Springfield drug defendant tackled by ICE agents outside courthouse: WitnessN.J. family loses business, car after ICE roadblockThe thorny case of a Mass. judge accused of helping a man escape ICE is nearing its conclusionJudge denies request to hide identity of ICE officer in Fitchburg arrest