An immigrant who was arrested in New Bedford and then held in New Hampshire for the past month has been released from custody on bail.
Juan Francisco M茅ndez鈥檚 case gained national attention when a circulated online. The video shows a federal agent smashing M茅ndez鈥檚 car window to arrest him.
Thirty-one days later, M茅ndez was released from Strafford County Corrections in New Hampshire.
M茅ndez鈥檚 lawyer, Ondine G谩lvez Sniffin, told CAI on Thursday afternoon, 鈥淢茅ndez has left the facility at Strafford and is on his way to Burlington, [MA], which is where he will be processed out of ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] custody.鈥�
M茅ndez left Strafford exactly one week after an immigration judge , dismissing the case and citing the U.S. government鈥檚 failure to press any charges against M茅ndez, who does not have a criminal record. That hearing was on May 8.
Sniffin had requested a bail bond hearing for her client before the May 8 hearing, and one was scheduled for May 15. When the judge dismissed M茅ndez鈥檚 case and ordered his release, he told Sniffin he would keep the May 15 bond hearing in place, in case something happened and M茅ndez ended up not being released.
And , Sniffin said. The government did not honor that release order due to discrepancies with M茅ndez鈥檚 鈥淎 number鈥濃�攁 type of identification number the U.S. government assigns to immigration cases.
Because of the A number issues, Sniffin was unsure how the May 15 bond hearing would go.
鈥淭hey're not recognizing the May 15 hearing because it's under another A number,鈥� she told CAI last week.
The day of the hearing came, and the judge set M茅ndez鈥檚 bail at $1,500. The bail was paid, and by the afternoon, M茅ndez had been released from Strafford and was on his way to Burlington.
Thursday evening, M茅ndez walked out of the ICE facility in Burlington, free to go鈥攆or now.
鈥淗e will still need to appear in court, but it will be at a future date,鈥� Sniffin said. 鈥淚 don't know when.鈥�
After weeks of holding M茅ndez without filing any formal charges against him, the government officially charged M茅ndez on Tuesday. He is charged with being in the country without documentation.
M茅ndez is from Guatemala and lives in New Bedford with his wife and son, who both have asylum. When he was arrested, M茅ndez was already in the process of applying to become a derivative asylee. That鈥檚 a process where the U.S. government allows migrants to apply for asylum through a family member. His asylum case is still pending.
M茅ndez is one of at 24 migrants who have been arrested in New Bedford as part of federal immigration operations since President Donald Trump took office on January 20, .
