Despite a judge's order, a migrant arrested by federal agents in New Bedford last month remains in detention in New Hampshire.
Juan Francisco Méndez’s case gained national attention when a video of the arrest circulated online. The video shows a federal agent smashing Méndez’s car window to arrest him.
Méndez has been at Strafford County Corrections in New Hampshire for about a month. He had a hearing on May 8, in which the judge dismissed his case and ordered that he be released, finding that the government had not charged Méndez with any crimes.
Méndez’s lawyer, Ondine Gálvez Sniffin, said the delay in her client’s release is due to discrepancies with Mendez's so-called “A number”—a type of identification number the U.S. government assigns to immigration cases.
Sniffin said government officials told her they can't follow the judge's release order because the A number on the order doesn't match the A number they have for Méndez. As a result, Méndez will have to attend another hearing on May 22, Sniffin said, even though his case has already been dismissed.
Earlier in the legal process, Sniffin had filed a motion for bond on behalf of her client, and a bond hearing was set for May 15. But now, Sniffin said, that bond hearing might not amount to anything.
“If [the bond hearing] was held today and the judge said, ‘You're released on personal cognizance because this is ridiculous,’ they [the government] would not recognize that decision,” she said. “They're not recognizing the May 15 hearing because it's under another A number, and they're just crossing their arms and saying, ‘Let's wait until May 22.’”
Citing the viral video of federal agents smashing through a car window to detain Méndez, Sniffin says she thinks this was more than just a clerical error.
“I see it as DHS [the Department of Homeland Security] taking punitive measures. They're punishing my client,” she said. “They are not happy that they got all this attention after the smash and grab and that they've had to answer for it.”
Sniffin noted that the government still had not formally filed charges against Méndez—which was the reason the judge ordered his release in the first place.
However, she said that her client had been served charging papers—though those still need to be filed with the courts to become official, Sniffin added.
The papers charge Méndez with being in the country illegally.
Méndez is from Guatemala. His wife and son have asylum, and he is in the process of applying to become a derivative asylee. That’s a process where the U.S. government allows migrants to apply for asylum through a family member.
Méndez is one of at least 18 immigrants who have been detained in New Bedford by federal agents since President Donald Trump took office.
Federal officials did not respond to CAI’s request for comment.
