Disabled Bangladeshi American woman recounts ICE arrest to Congress

A Minnesota woman testified Tuesday at a congressional forum held at the Dirksen Senate Office Building that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents forcibly removed her from her car during a Jan. 13 arrest in Minneapolis. Aliya Rahman, a Bangladeshi American born in Wisconsin and a U.S. resident, told lawmakers in Washington, D.C., that the encounter occurred as she was driving to a medical appointment and that she repeatedly informed agents she is autistic and has a traumatic brain injury.

Rahman testified that the incident began when ICE agents directed her to pull into a congested intersection. “I had not wanted to pull into a blocked, chaotic intersection, but verbally agreed to do so and rolled down my window after an agent yelled, ‘Move! I will break your effing window,’” Rahman said.

“There were agents on all sides of my vehicle yelling conflicting threats and instructions that I could not process while watching for pedestrians,” she testified. “Then, the glass of the passenger side window flew across my face.” As agents reached into the vehicle, Rahman said she yelled, “I’m disabled,” and an agent responded, “Too late.”

“I was carried face down through the street by my cuffed arms and legs while yelling that I had a brain injury and was disabled,” Rahman told lawmakers. “I now cannot lift my arms normally.” She testified that she was never asked for identification, never told she was under arrest, never read her rights and never charged with a crime.

Rahman said agents placed her into an SUV, an action visible in the bystander video shown during the forum. She also testified that after being taken to a detention center, agents mocked her and denied her requests for medical assistance despite her injuries and stated disability.

The forum focused on ICE agents’ use of force during arrests conducted as part of the immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump. After Rahman testified, Sen. Amy Klobuchar addressed her directly, referencing the video shown during the hearing. “I had seen the video, Ms. Rahman, of what happened to you, but hearing your story is even more chilling,” Klobuchar said.

Lawmakers also heard testimony from the brothers of Renee Good, who was shot and killed in Minneapolis last month during an ICE operation and from Marimar Martinez, who testified about being shot multiple times by ICE agents in Chicago late last year. Members of Congress questioned witnesses about the sequence of events in each case as they documented encounters involving federal agents during public arrests.