ICE Agents Deployed Tear Gas In Home With Twin Babies Inside, Mother Says

A terrified mom has told Newsweek how she and her 10-month-old twins were tear gassed in her home by federal agents as she went to open her front door.

Maryioth Pascanales, a Honduran national, ran to a bathroom with her children, both U.S. citizens, when she saw the gas flow into her home, following a loud pounding on the door in Berclair, Memphis, at around 8 p.m.

“I grabbed the twins and tried to run to the door to open it, but that’s when it sounded like the security door was getting cut, and then saw the tear gas come through the holes in the door,” Pascanales told Newsweek in a statement over email.

Now Pascanales, who felt unsafe in Honduras, says she doesn’t feel safe anywhere and wants to leave the U.S.

Newsweek has contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) as well as its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, for comment via email.

The Context

Federal immigration authorities are under heightened scrutiny. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency responsible for enforcing immigration laws and detaining individuals in the country unlawfully, has faced repeated allegations of denying due process rights, engaging in racial profiling, and using excessive force. The Trump administration has marshaled several federal agencies, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, and U.S. Marshals, to pool resources and power its deportation efforts.

‘Worst thing that has happened to me’

Pascanales said she moved the twins and her roommate into a bathroom in the master bedroom and locked them inside before trying to secure the bedroom, during the November 7 raid. Officers forced their way in moments later, she said.

“ICE agents came into the bathroom, forcing the door open and making a mess of the home. They took me and the twins out of the house, took the babies from me, and held them while I was handcuffed before they put both the babies and me in the car to detention. 

Pascanales said that during detention, she and the twins were transported to a building and taken into a small room inside the facility. She said they remained there until around 3 a.m, when she and the infants were released. Two other adult roommates were arrested during the operation and remain in custody, Pascanales said.

“Taking my babies away from me and then forcing both them and me into the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement vehicle was the scariest and worst thing that has ever happened to me.” 

‘This is inhumane’

Local organizer Yuleiny Escobar of Votes for All said she arrived outside the Memphis home shortly after the law-enforcement activity began. She said she observed state troopers, ICE agents, and other personnel at the scene.

Escobar said the vehicle carrying the roommates had been stopped around the corner from the residence. She said she saw a broken window and claimed that “at least two tear gas grenades” had been deployed into the home, where three adults and two infants were present.

She said officers were seen moving in and out of the house during the detention process and that she observed children being carried out of the residence by federal agents.

“Throwing tear gas into a home with babies inside is inhumane,” Escobar said in a statement shared with Newsweek.

Immigration attorney Colton Bane told WREG Memphis that he responded to the incident involving a family, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Memphis Safe Task Force.

He said an officer told him police were there because two teens, including one who lived at the home, allegedly prompted a police chase.

The teen’s mother called the immigration advocacy group Vecindarios 901, not fully understanding the reason for the large police presence, WREG Memphis reported. During that call, Bane said task force agents deployed tear gas into the home.

‘I don’t feel safe anywhere’

Pascanales now says she does not feel secure in her home or in Memphis.

“I don’t feel safe anywhere. I feel unsafe in my house, and unsafe in the city of Memphis,” she said.

“I want to leave and return to my home country, but it will take work and time and preparation, and the reason I left that country is that I wasn’t safe there either.”