***Livestream***Tomorrow: Blumenthal & Robert Garcia to Receive Public Testimony from Children Brutalized by DHS Agents

[WASHINGTON, DC] – On Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 3 PM ET, U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Ranking Member of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, and U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA), Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will hold a bicameral public forum to receive testimony on the how violent tactics, a disregard for laws and constitutional rights, and new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policies have harmed children in America.

The following young Americans will offer testimony about their personal experiences being assaulted or separated from their families by DHS agents:

• Arnoldo Bazan: Arnoldo is a 16-year-old U.S. citizen from Houston, Texas. Arnoldo was assaulted by federal immigration agents on his way to school; he sought treatment at a nearby hospital for neck injuries described by the hospital as resulting from being beaten and choked. He still experiences physical and mental side effects.

• Fernando Hernández García: Fernando is an 18-year-old U.S. citizen from the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. He has been living on his own and separated from his family since his younger sister, Sara, who is also a U.S. citizen, was removed to Mexico after being detained while on her way to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston to seek treatment for a novel medical condition; she had surgery to remove a brain tumor in 2024.

• Ana Michelle Ramirez Sanan: Michelle is an 18-year-old U.S. citizen from Chelsea, Massachusetts. Michelle was restrained by a DHS agent after her mother and autistic 13-year-old brother, also a U.S. citizen, were dragged from their car and detained. DHS agents then violently arrested Michelle’s 50-year old mother, who has legal status and has lived in the U.S. for over twenty years, in front of her and her brother.

The following mothers will offer testimony about how DHS agents assaulted them and their children:

• Anabel Romero: Ms. Romero is a U.S. citizen from Gooding, Idaho and mother of three. During an immigration raid, Ms. Romero was separated from her 6- and 8-year-old children at gunpoint; she and her 14-year-old daughter were then assaulted and zip-tied. Ms. Romero’s teenage daughter will not be testifying but will be joining her at the forum.

• Adreina Mejia: Ms. Mejia is a U.S. citizen from Arleta, California. She and her special needs 15-year-old son were separated, held gunpoint and then handcuffed by DHS agents outside of a local high school.

The following school administrator will offer testimony about the impact of current DHS policies on schools and schoolchildren:

• Zena Stenvik: Ms. Stenvik is the Superintendent of Columbia Heights Public Schools, a school district just north of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos and his father were one of several families in the school district terrorized by DHS agents during the “surge” in Minnesota.

WHO: U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)

U.S. Representative Robert Garcia (D-CA)

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives, including members Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

Three young Americans, two mothers, and a school superintendent who witnessed or experienced DHS agents violently assaulting and detaining children

WHEN: Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at 3 PM ET

WHERE: G50 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC

LIVESTREAM: A livestream will be available here.

Tuesday’s event is the fourth public forum Blumenthal and Garcia have hosted as part of their ongoing inquiry into the lawless and abusive tactics used by federal immigration agents.

In December, Blumenthal and Garcia received testimony from five U.S. citizens who were assaulted, detained, and denied their constitutional rights by DHS agents.

In early February, the members hosted a forum focused on the violent tactics and disproportionate use of force by DHS agents, featuring three U.S. citizens who were violently assaulted and the brothers of Renee Nicole Macklin Good, a U.S. citizen and resident of Minneapolis, Minnesota who was shot and killed by an Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in January.

In late February, Blumenthal and Garcia hosted their third bicameral forum on constitutional violations and abuses by ICE featuring Ryan Schwank, a whistleblower who spoke publicly for the first time about his experience as an instructor for the incoming “surge” of new ICE recruits, and a U.S. citizen whose home was forcibly entered by ICE agents without a judicial warrant.

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