A mother from Massachusetts faced arrest by federal immigration officials right in front of her three young daughters, abruptly transforming their family vacation into a distressing ordeal, according to her husband.

Jemmy Jimenez Rosa, aged 42, who holds legal permanent residency in the U.S., was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on August 11 after she and her family returned from a Mexican vacation.

Her lawyer stated that the sudden arrest was linked to a marijuana possession charge from decades ago, which is no longer a criminal offense under current Massachusetts legislation.

‘They took her right in front of our daughters,’ her husband, Marcel Rosa, who is 38, recounted. ‘The girls were in tears, clinging to her. I had to break the news to them, “We might not see your mother again in this country.”‘

Jimenez Rosa spent 10 days in federal custody, being moved between various detention centers in Massachusetts and Maine, including one meant solely for male detainees.

Her family claimed she was refused adequate medical treatment for her chronic illnesses such as diabetes and asthma, necessitating hospital visits on two occasions during her confinement.

Despite repeated inquiries from her legal team, federal agencies – including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) , CBP, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office – did not respond, according to MassLive.

Jimenez Rosa’s attorney, Todd Pomerleau, said that it wasn’t until the day of her release on August 20 that ICE indirectly confirmed the reason for her detention, referencing the marijuana charge in an email.

During her detention Pomerleau successfully petitioned a judge to vacate Jimenez Rosa’s past conviction and immediately filed a motion for her release.

‘After the motion was filed … they cowered,’ Pomerleau said. ‘The ICE lawyer said something to the effect by email, “They’re going to let her out now, because clearly the marijuana charge isn’t around anymore.”‘

‘It’s like, well, thank you for letting us know in writing that was the basis for her detention, which we still have never seen,’ he added.

The charge dated back to 2003, when Jimenez Rosa was a 20-year-old college student. 

She was arrested for possession of a small amount of marijuana, pleaded guilty, and completed probation – and her case was sealed over a decade ago.

‘Her records were sealed for 12 years,’ Pomerleau said. ‘They [federal officers] would have had no access to these records unless somebody illegally handed them over. They never once asked me for records about the case. I had to guess that it might have been a marijuana charge because I was left in the dark for a week.’

Pomerleau called the incident ‘disturbing’ and entirely unjustified.

‘She was detained without a clear legal basis, denied medical care, and shuffled around like a criminal for a charge that’s not even prosecutable under state law today,’ he said. ‘This never should have happened.’

The ordeal has sparked outrage from state lawmakers, including Sen. Paul Feeney, who was present when Jimenez Rosa was reunited with her family in Burlington.

‘This was brutal and capricious,’ Feeney said. ‘Locking up a legally present Massachusetts mom and taking her from her young kids does not make our community safer. It instills fear and undermines the rule of law.’

Jimenez Rosa was eventually released with no phone and no transportation. 

Her husband told MassLive she ended up at a Cheesecake Factory near the Burlington Mall – 30 miles from her Canton home – and borrowed a stranger’s phone to call him.

‘She was soaking wet from the rain, completely disoriented,’ Pomerleau said. ‘She was crying nonstop and barely able to speak.’

‘She reminded me of asylum seekers who have been absolutely victimized. She was constantly breaking down in tears. She was trembling. All she did was just hold on to her kids and hold on to her husband, and she just sat there and cried for 45 straight minutes. She couldn’t even function,’ he said.

The experience, the family said, has left deep emotional wounds.

‘She’s not the same,’ Marcel said. ‘She’s crying throughout the day. She needs help. We all do.’

Pomerleau vowed to continue pursuing legal accountability, saying the detention violated her constitutional rights.

‘It is a big deal when law enforcement violates the law under the guise of enforcing it,’ he said. ‘But I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States as an attorney. The rule of law needs to be respected.’

‘If it can happen to a non-citizen, Green Card holder who’s been following nearly every rule her whole life, paying taxes – it can happen to you. It can happen to anybody. And we are taking a stand.’

Since returning home to Canton, Jimenez Rosa is ‘not herself,” her husband said on Friday. 

The family is now arranging psychiatric care and a full medical evaluation to address the toll the ordeal has taken on her health.

To help cover the mounting legal and medical expenses, a GoFundMe has been launched and has raised over $14,000 toward its $16,000 goal.

Daily Mail has reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement for comment.