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Immigration attorney: ICE agent knocked me down, broke my foot

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An immigration attorney said in an interview Tuesday that she was barred entry to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Kansas City, Mo., by an ICE agent who knocked her to the ground, breaking her foot.

Andrea Martinez told The Daily Beast that she was attempting to escort a 3-year-old client into the facility for family reunification when she was barred entry by a male ICE agent, saying she was “knocked to the ground and bloodied” during the encounter.

“He slammed the door on us,” Martinez said. “The ICE officer pushed us out and didn’t let us follow our 3-year-old client into the lobby, and then pushed me to the ground.”

{mosads}”I was wearing high heels, so that’s when my foot was fractured and my leg got all bloody,” she added. “And then my pants ripped. But then he called me back in and detained me for another 40 minutes or an hour.”

Martinez also accused agents of refusing her access to a first-aid kit during her detention, claiming that agents said her injury was not severe enough to warrant access to medical care.

“He locked me in an office where I couldn’t get out and he didn’t let me call 9-1-1 or use the phone or anything,” Martinez said. “And I told him, ‘I’m bleeding, I’m bleeding, can you at least get me a first aid kit?’ And he said, ‘No, it’s not severe enough.’ And then my foot started swelling.”

Actions of ICE agents have been scrutinized in recent weeks by Democrats and critics of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance immigration policy, who have accused the agency of “tearing apart families.”

“During my trip to the southern border, it was clear that ICE, and its actions of hunting down and tearing apart families, has wreaked havoc on far too many people,” Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said Monday in a statement calling for ICE’s abolition.

Tags Donald Trump ICE Immigration and Customs Enforcement Kansas City Mark Pocan Missouri Trump administration

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