A woman is getting praised online for boldly facing masked ICE agents after one of her family members was detained while leaving the immigration hearing. During Donald Trump‘s second term, there have been many instances where immigrants were detained at the courthouse and separated from their loved ones. Videos and news reports reveal heartbreaking details of arrest, as the immigrants never get a chance to return to their homes and hug their family members.
ICE agents are criticized for using force during arrests, even though most people have no criminal history and are respected citizens of their community, seeking the status of a permanent resident.
At Immigration Court 26 Federal Plaza, a Black woman lost her calm as her family member was taken away right after the hearing. She boldly told a group of masked ICE Agents, “We angry. All of us angry out here. So don’t think it’s y’all alone.”
Independent videographer Sandi Bachom recorded the video and posted it on her social media handles. The video begins with a man being confronted by ICE agents. He calmly cooperates and follows them. However, the woman later hurls abuse at the agents before she heads to the elevator.
An agent provokes her by asking, “You wanna go to jail?”
The unafraid woman replies, “For what? I didn’t touch you.”
When a man asks her, “Are you okay?” she angrily reacts, “How can I be OK? You OK?”
“[Do] I look like I am OK? Don’t come up to my face because I hit hard,” she yells.
An agent then provokes her by saying, “Try it.” She turns back and challenges, “You try me. And see what the [expletive language] happens.”
Agents then ask her to “get out of here.” She fires back. “Why are you asking me to get out of here. You asked me a question and I am answering you,” she says.
A security man then approaches her and guides her towards the elevator. A masked agent keeps following her and repeatedly asks, “You wanna go to jail?”
“You wanna hit me? Hit me [expletive language]. You ain’t got me. Nobody’s scared of you,” she says while a security guard shoos her into the elevator and shields her. She also calls them out for hiding their faces and added, “My face ain’t hidden.”
“I’m American,” she declares.
As the elevator closes in, she says, “Put that on the news. Let Trump see it.”
Watch the video here!
The video has now gone viral across social media platforms and was even covered by MSNBC.
Sandi Bachom, who filmed the video, wrote on Instagram, “This is the first time in four months I’ve been filming that anybody ever pushed back against these guys, and it was glorious.”
Netizens are amazed by the woman’s courage who refused to bow down to the jail threats of ICE agents. An Instagram user commented, “Protect this woman at all costs. Let’s lift her up because this is what a real American looks like!!!”
Someone else wrote, “She is a Super Hero. She spoke truth to those men.”
Eagle-eyed fans wrote, “Shout out to that security guard for protecting her.” Someone else praised, “I have so much respect for her. They threatened her with jail and she just kept going off without fear.”
Sharing the video, Bachom highlighted in her caption, “When people show up for their scheduled immigration hearings, many have received a deportation notice. Many seeking asylum, fleeing gang violence and torture.”
“Some wind up on a target list compiled by ICE. Most have no criminal records. We have no idea how or why their name gets on the list for “expedited deportation”. No reason is given. We don’t know what happens to them after they disappear down elevators and stairwells,” she added.
The courthouse has lately been seeing heartbreaking and heated clashes between ICE agents and commoners. A few weeks ago, a woman was violently pushed to the ground while she was pleading with an ICE agent as her husband was being taken away. The woman was later taken to the hospital. The video captured shocking physical force on an innocent woman went viral, and the agent was met with massive backlash.
