A US senator has condemned the Trump administration after she alleged that an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “attack dog” mauled one of her constituents.
Democratic senator Patty Murray of Washington state said Wilmer Toledo-Martinez suffered “horrific” injuries while ICE agents detained him in November.
“An ICE agent lured Wilmer out of his home under false pretenses, posing as a construction worker who claimed to have hit Wilmer’s car and needed him to step outside to verify,” Murray said in a statement. “Another agent, accompanied by a dog, was hiding nearby and released the dog on Wilmer shortly after he stepped outside.”
Murray said Toledo-Martinez, who was brought to the US at age 15 and is undocumented, was not resisting arrest or attempting to flee when the dog attacked. He is being held at the Northwest ICE processing center, Murray said. She said Toledo-Martinez was detained in front of his wife and two young children, who are all US citizens – and she called for his immediate release.
“Following the attack, Wilmer was left shaking and dizzy, and at one point his vision went black, yet he was denied medical care for hours,” Murray said.