Woman remains in ICE custody after officer breaks window during arrest
By Kai Reed
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WESTMINSTER, Maryland (WBAL) — A woman from El Salvador who lives in Westminster is being held in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody Tuesday after she was pulled out of her car more than a week ago.
Her daughter recorded what happened with her phone, and WBAL-TV has more on the incident, including questions on the charges she is facing.
Elsy Berrios has lived in Maryland for several years. She is in the process of asking for asylum in America, as she fears for her safety in El Salvador. She was driving in Westminster on March 31 when she was pulled over by someone wearing a “Federal Police” vest.
The man told her to get out of the car, and Berrios then asked the officer for an arrest order, or she would not get out of the car. Anna Tijerina is an attorney for the family.
“Right there, the officer is telling her, ‘No, I’m not going to give you the order, because it’s in the car,’ so she said, ‘I’m not going to step out of the car,'” Tijerina said.
After the officer refuses to show her an arrest warrant, he breaks the window and opens the door. Berrios’ attorneys said they still do not know what she is charged with but say she was processed through the ICE office in Baltimore and then sent to a facility in Pennsylvania.
Throughout the interaction, Berrios stayed calm and repeatedly tried to assure her daughter everything would be OK.
“Honestly, I can only say that’s probably the power only a mother has. Her 18-year-old daughter was with her, and her 18-year-old daughter was very shaken by the situation, and I can only assume she was trying not to freak her daughter out. She was trying to remain calm for her daughter, and she was trying to remain strong for her daughter,” Tijerina said.
She said her client’s rights were violated when the officers refused to show her the warrant.
WBAL-TV reached out to ICE, who claims Berrios is a known affiliate of the violent MS-13 street gang. They said she was released from their custody in 2017 under the ICE Alternatives to Detention program.
Tijerina said there is a bond hearing scheduled for Berrios next Monday.
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