Maryioth Pascanales, a Honduran mother who lives in the Berclair neighborhood of Memphis, was a victim of tear gas Tear gas inside her own home during an operation by federal immigration agents. According to her account to Newsweek, upon hearing loud banging on the front door, she grabbed her 10-month-old twins and went to open it, never imagining what would happen next. “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 being cut, and then I saw tear gas coming out of the holes in the door,” she explained in an email to the publication. The gas began to spread rapidly, forcing her to run to the bathroom with her children to protect them from the smoke. The incident occurred on November 7.

“They took my babies”

The woman recounted that officers forced their way in, destroyed part of the interior of the house, and dragged her and the children out of the bathroom.

“They took me and the twins out, took the babies, and held them while I was handcuffed before putting me and the babies in the car for arrest,” she reported.

For hours, already in custody, Pascanales and the children were taken to a building where they remained until approximately 3:00 am, when they were finally released.

Two other adults who lived there were arrested and remain in custody.

Why did the operation happen?

Immigration attorney Colton Bane, who was contacted after the incident, explained to the WREG Memphis website that an officer informed him that The operation was launched because two teenagers, one of them a resident of the house, allegedly initiated a police chase. The mother of one of the youths called the neighborhood watch group 'Vecindarios 901', not fully understanding the scale of the police deployment. During the encounter with the organization, according to Bane, agents allegedly fired tear gas into the home.

So far, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security have not commented on the incident.

Following the operation, Pascanales says his sense of security has been completely shattered. She left Honduras seeking protection, but now feels unsafe even in Memphis.

“I don't feel safe anywhere. I feel unsafe in my own home and in the city of Memphis,” she said. “I want to leave and return to my country of origin, but it will require work, time, and preparation, and the reason I left that country is that I wasn't safe there either.”

You may be interested in:

Housing regulations for immigrants are being tightened; they will have a new scheme· ICE arrests a 17-year-old student and citizen after he left school: what happened· End of TPS will leave 350,000 Haitian immigrants vulnerable to deportation starting in February