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Topics: Politics, US News, World News
Poppy Bilderbeck
A mom has spoken out about the lack of 'mercy' shown to her and her three daughters after agents allegedly burst into their home armed with guns.
In early April, mom Marissa - a pseudonym - and her three daughters moved into a rented home in the Oklahoma City from Maryland - with Marissa's husband set to join later - in a bid to save money and enjoy a slower pace of life.
However, on April 24, a team of multi-agency agents reported as being part of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) burst in.
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Marissa told KSFOR the family initially thought they were being 'robbed' after waking up to find 'guns pointed in [their] faces'.
However, it was later ascertained the agents had a search warrant however the names listed did not match their family's.
Despite them not being the suspects the authorities were searching for - and Marissa repeatedly telling them they were all US citizens - the agents allegedly seized their life savings.
Marissa told the outlet she and her daughters were ordered outside of their home without even being given the chance to put on clothes - with one of her children a 'minor' and left in her 'underwear'.
The agents reportedly 'wanted [the family] to change in front of all of them, in between all of them'.
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"My husband has not even seen my daughter in her undergarments - her own dad, because it’s respectful," she added.
The mom claims she kept asking the agents who they were and what they were doing and they responded they had a 'search warrant for the home'.
She said she tried telling the agents the family are 'all citizens' of the US, 'pleading' with them and reassuring them they 'weren't criminals'.
However, Marissa says they responded by being 'very dismissive, very rough, very careless'.
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"You have guns pointed in our faces. Can you just reprogram yourself and see us as humans, as women? A little bit of mercy. Care a little bit about your fellow human, about your fellow citizen, fellow resident. We bleed too. We work. We bleed just like anybody else bleeds. We’re scared. You could see our faces that we were terrified," she added.
The mom claimed: "They were treating us like criminals. We were here by ourselves. We didn’t do anything."
And the agents then allegedly started tearing apart the home.
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Marissa alleged all phones, laptops and all her life savings in cash were taken from the property by the agents and she's been left with no money to 'feed [her] children' or 'get around'.
"I said, 'When are we going to get our stuff back?' They said it could be days or it could be months," the mother claimed.
Marissa alleged the agents identified them as federal agents with the US Marshals ICE, and the FBI.
However, a spokesperson for the US Marshals Service told the outlet on April 29 while they were 'aware of the operation before it happened,' none of their agents were allegedly present during the raid.
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A spokesperson for the FBI told KFOR to direct inquires to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) but that it was assisting in the case.
Meanwhile, a senior DHS official told The Independent: "ICE was carrying out a court authorized search warrant for a large-scale human smuggling investigation. The case has been accepted for federal prosecution in the Northern District of Oklahoma.
"The search warrants included the location of an address where U.S. citizens recently moved. The previous residents were the intended targets."
UNILAD has contacted the US Marshals Service, FBI and ICE for further comment.