ICE agents take Maryland woman into custody after smashing through car window
A confrontation between a woman and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Maryland was captured on video.
The video showed the moment that ICE agents smashed a car window and took 51-year-old Elsy Noemi Berrios into custody in Westminster.
In the video, Berrios can be heard speaking in Spanish to the agents as they stand just outside of her car.
She asks them to explain why she is being arrested and to provide a warrant.
One of the agents responded in Spanish that they didn’t need to show an order.
After some inaudible back and forth, Berrios can be heard saying, “Pues, no me voy a viajar.” She tells the officers that she won’t get out of the car.
At that point, the agents break her car window and unlock the car before taking her into custody. The video was taken by Berrios’ daughter, Karen Cruz Berrios.
“I would understand if they had a search warrant or anything for her, then okay, you guys can take her out or give it to her and she can step out. There was no need for them to do all of that,” Cruz Berrios said.
In the video, Berrios is heard telling her daughter in Spanish not to worry, to relax, and that she is okay. Crus Berrios calls her mother strong, loving and a great parent who has done everything she can to support her family.
According to ICE officials, Berrios “is an illegal alien, Salvadoran national and known affiliate of the violent transnational street gang, MS-13.”
She was arrested on March 31 by Baltimore ICE agents and remains in custody at the Moshannon Valley Processing Center in Pennsylvania, according to ICE.
Her attorney says the government has not presented any evidence of any gang affiliation. She says it also hasn’t presented any information detailing why she was arrested.
ICE said Berrios was arrested in January 2017 by U.S. Border Patrol after she entered the U.S. illegally. She was then taken to a Texas Border Patrol station and ordered to appear in court.
In February 2017, Berrios was released from custody under the ICE Alternatives to Detention Program. The program allows migrants to continue living in the U.S. as they move forward with immigration court proceedings.
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