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ICE agents smashed a car window and arrested a father in front of his children as they were heading to church on Mother’s Day in Chelsea.
A Chelsea family was stopped by ICE agents as they drove to church on Mother’s Day last year. The agents smashed one of the vehicle’s windows, pulled out a man, and slammed him into the pavement as his family watched in distress.
The family sued federal officials this week, alleging ICE used excessive force to “brutalize” the man and traumatize his family.
The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the family by attorneys with the Boston-based nonprofit Lawyers for Civil Rights, comes after the family filed an administrative complaint against ICE last June. This administrative complaint was a required precursor to actual litigation. Now that six months have elapsed without a response, the family is able to file a lawsuit in federal court.
“This was not enforcement. It was state-sanctioned cruelty, unleashed on a family without warning, without cause, and without conscience. The government must answer for the trauma it inflicts on children,” said Mirian Albert, an attorney with LCR, in a statement Thursday.
Spokespeople for the Department of Homeland Security and ICE did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Last year, LCR posted a short video online showing the incident.
The incident occurred on May 11, 2025, as ICE agents swept through Massachusetts in a monthlong surge dubbed “Operation Patriot.” Officials later said that they detained close to 1,500 people during the operation.
The man who was arrested was identified as Daniel Flores Martinez. He now resides in Mexico.
On the morning of May 11, Flores and his 3-year-old son took their dog for a walk. He noticed an unmarked vehicle nearby, which moved and was replaced by a different vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
Just before 11:30 a.m., Flores headed to church with his family. This included his wife, Kenia Guerrero, their three children, and the children’s grandmother. Guerrero and their children, aged 14, 12, and 3, are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit does not contain information about their grandmother or her immigration status.
The family was pulled over a few blocks from their home, with multiple unmarked cars surrounding them. About five armed, plain-clothes agents approached the vehicle on both sides. Some of them wore masks. Some wore generic vests that displayed “police,” but none of the agents identified themselves or told the family what agency they worked for, according to the lawsuit. They also allegedly did not provide justification for the traffic stop, only saying that they were looking for a man who drives the vehicle that the family was in.
Flores was sitting in the front passenger seat. He remained silent as agents questioned his wife about their identities. They then signaled for Flores to roll down his window and threatened to break it. Guerrero pleaded with the agents not to act violently, telling them that three children were in the vehicle, according to the lawsuit.
Agents then used “a tool or weapon” to shatter the window, allegedly without giving Flores time to comply or exit the car. Shattered glass hit the two youngest children. Agents “aggressively yanked” Flores out of the car, brought him to the ground outside, and put him in handcuffs, according to the lawsuit. Flores did not resist and told the agents that he was not resisting, the suit says.
Guerrero exited the vehicle as her children screamed in terror.
“Mrs. Guerrero cried out: ‘Why are you doing this with my children here?!’ A female officer physically restrained her against her car as she pleaded, ‘Aren’t you a mother?’ But the officer ignored her pleas,” the lawsuit states.
Flores was driven away in an unmarked vehicle. Guerrero was not told why her husband was being detained, and she received no information about his whereabouts until that night, when Flores called her from an ICE detention center, according to the lawsuit.
The family alleges that the actions by the ICE agents were not isolated but rather a “part of a pattern and practice sanctioned and ratified by ICE senior leadership.”
The children suffered “immediate and lasting trauma” from the incident. This includes “increased anxiety, recurring nightmares, and a deep distrust of law enforcement.” The 14-year-old, in particular, became “severely withdrawn” from friends and family. He gets regular headaches, has trouble sleeping, has lost his appetite, and typically misses one or two days of school a week, according to the lawsuit.
The 12-year-old, who lives with conditions including epilepsy, hydrocephalus, and cerebral palsy, requires constant care. Guerrero is now her sole caretaker, according to the lawsuit.
Guerrero herself has developed insomnia and more frequent panic attacks. She was forced to leave a part-time job and work full-time in the painting business she shared with Flores. Due to his absence, Guerrero has been forced to “wind the business down,” according to the lawsuit.
“Collectively, the officers’ actions shattered the family’s sense of safety and trust in law enforcement. Since the incident, the family has faced immense emotional hardship and have struggled to access the support necessary to address the profound, life-altering trauma they endured,” lawyers for the family wrote in the court documents.
The lawsuit can be read in full here.
Ross Cristantiello
Ross Cristantiello, a general assignment news reporter for Boston.com since 2022, covers local politics, crime, the environment, and more.
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