US EditionJudge orders release of immigrant detained during window-smashing incident in Mass.
- Immigration Judge Donald Ostrom ordered the release of Juan Francisco Méndez, a Guatemalan immigrant detained in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on April 14, 2025.
- The release occurred because federal authorities failed to file required charging documents, leading Judge Ostrom to dismiss the case as a failure to prosecute.
- ICE agents broke Méndez's car window with an axe during his arrest, a tactic widely criticized and captured on video that circulated nationally.
- Méndez’s attorney, Ondine Galvez-Sniffin, described the government’s silence as "an admission of guilt" and called the arrest "completely mind blowing."
- The dismissal suggests possible errors in ICE’s arrest procedures and raises questions about the treatment of immigrants amid ongoing asylum processes.
11 Articles
11 Articles
Unexpected turn in the case of the Guatemalan who was forcibly taken out of his car by the ICE: do they release him?
Juan Francisco Méndez, a Guatemalan immigrant from Massachusetts, has been detained since Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents smashed his car window and arrested him. Now, three weeks later, a judge in New Hampshire ordered the deportation proceedings to be closed, as there were no indictments against him, which could lead to his early release.Cristales broken with hammers in New Bedford: ICE arrested Juan Francisco MéndezOn April 1…
New Bedford man arrested by ICE remains detained after another judge rules against his release - The Boston Globe
A day after a Chelmsford immigration judge closed Juan Francisco Méndez’s case, a judge in New Hampshire denied a motion for his immediate release from the Strafford County jail.
Judge orders release of New Bedford man after window-shattering ICE arrest
NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WPRI) — After nearly a month in federal custody following a controversial arrest by immigration agents, a New Bedford man is set to be released, 12 News has confirmed. Judge Donald Ostrom agreed Thursday morning to dismiss the case against 29-year-old Juan Francisco Méndez, who's being held at a detention facility in New Hampshire. Méndez was taken into custody on April 14 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) …
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