NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — Federal immigration agents are accused of shattering a car window in New Bedford, Massachusetts, while detaining a Guatemalan man on Monday in a caught-on-camera incident – despite his attorney saying they had the wrong person.
According to immigration attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin, she received a call from her clients – 29-year-old Juan Francisco Mendez and his wife – saying they had been pulled over by federal agents on Tallman Street.
“I said, ‘Tell them you have your attorney. Tell them I’m on my way,’” Sniffin told Nexstar’s WPRI.
The incident was first reported by The New Bedford Light.
While the couple waited, agents allegedly surrounded their car and warned that they could handle things “the easy way or the hard way,” while motioning for them to roll down the windows.
Video obtained by WPRI shows Mendez and his wife speaking to the agents in Spanish from inside the vehicle. When they don’t comply, one of the agents is seen grabbing what appears to be a large pick-axe to smash the backseat window.
Sniffin said her clients were told the agents were looking for someone named “Antonio.”
“I said, ‘Well, that’s great, because your name is not Antonio, so you should be fine. Show them the paperwork that you have and you should be fine.’ And the agents didn’t pay attention to that,” she said.
Sniffin said both Mendez and his wife are lawfully in the U.S. and have no criminal record. His wife was granted asylum after fleeing persecution in her home country, and because the two are legally married, Mendez receives the same protection.
“She came to the U.S. with the belief that she would be safe here, that she would not have to endure the impunity of state actors the way she endured in her own country. And this is what she’s facing, and her husband, because they are legally married, has the same benefits that she does,” Sniffin explained.
Francisco Mendez is currently being held in New Hampshire, and a hearing is expected at a later date. Sniffin said they are now gathering evidence and letters of support in preparation for a bond request.
“They’re trying to live the American dream. They’re doing everything right. What they were doing, sitting in their car, in a parked car, respectfully speaking with these agents. That’s what every American should do: respect law enforcement,” Sniffin added. “In response, what they got was violence, brutality, impunity.”
The couple has a child in school, and Sniffin said Mendez’s wife is devastated trying to explain the situation to him.
“As she was here in my office, as we’re strategizing to request bond, her son calls her on the cellphone, ‘Mommy, when are you going to be home? Please don’t forget to bring daddy when you come home,’” Sniffin recalled.
She said the incident has had a “ripple effect,” bringing on a collective trauma to the wider community, not just the family involved.
Although New Bedford police responded to the scene, they said they could not intervene because it was a federal enforcement action.
“Neither the City nor the New Bedford Police Department were briefed or given notice from ICE regarding enforcement activity in New Bedford,” city spokesperson Jonathan Darling told WPRI.
WPRI has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but has not yet received a response. However, the FBI Boston confirmed, “this was an ICE ERO Boston arrest.”
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