A Guatemalan man is being held in New Hampshire after being arrested in New Bedford on Monday.
Monday morning Juan Mendez, 29, was taken from his car while driving on Tallman Street.
Mendez moved to the United States in 2021, and him and his wife currently have a son together.
“His wife has been here a little bit longer than that, I was able to get asylee status for his wife and son together,” said Ondine Galvez Sniffin, an immigration attorney. “And now we filed paperwork as her spouse, he’s entitled to the same status his wife has, it’s been filed for a few months.”
Mendez was taken into custody after ICE agents approached his car and asked to see his and his wife’s papers.
They told the agents that they were going to wait for their attorney to arrive until they come out of the car, the agents did not wait and smashed the windows of the vehicle.
“I was there and saw the violence that was occurring, it gave me a lot of pain because in my country they did that sort of thing,” said Adrian Ventura, the director for Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores. “After about 20 minutes, some of the officials got out of the car and they were carrying like an axe and they started to break the window of the car on the right hand side.”
Mendez is currently being held in a detention center in Dover, New Hampshire.
According to New Bedford District Court, Mendez has no criminal record, and his attorney believes the agents grabbed the wrong man.
“I arrived and the SUV with my client in it passed me and the windows rolled down and my client yelled out “ayudame” which means Help me,” continued Galvez Sniffin. “I don’t know when he will have a hearing, I don’t know what documentation ICE has submitted to justify his continued detention, so to answer your question on why haven’t they released him, I don’t know.”
Activists say the community in New Bedford has been living in fear since the beginning of this year.
“It seems like New Bedford is a target, because there have been at least 8 incidents in New Bedford since January,” said Dr. Lisa Maya Knauer, a project manager for Centro Comunitario de Trabajadores.
Now, Mendez and his family are praying that he won’t be sent back to Guatemala.
“I believe it’s possible, I hope it doesn’t happen, not to this family,” said Galvez Sniffin.
Mendez’s attorney said she’s unsure of when his court appearance will be scheduled, she believes May 7 but has not had any communication with ICE.