Juan Francisco Méndez, a Guatemalan man whose violent arrest by immigration agents who smashed his car windows last month in New Bedford shocked the local immigrant community, may soon reunite with his wife and 9-year old son.
Judge Donald Ostrom of the Chelmsford Immigration Court heard arguments Thursday from Méndez’s attorney, Ondine Gálvez Sniffin, and lawyers from the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor who represent federal immigration officials.
In a surprising turn of events during a bond hearing, Ostrom agreed that the case should be closed and Méndez released, after Sniffin shared that government attorneys had failed to file the appropriate paperwork.
“The court is going to close this case as a failure to prosecute,” Ostrom said, as a lawyer for the federal government kept quiet on the remote hearing.
Sniffin said it’s the first time she’s seen such a thing happen in her 27 years of practice.
“This was a month of injustice,” Sniffin said, adding that federal officials never justified the case, and failed to provide charging documents and evidence for this arrest. “Their silence is telling.”
In a separate civil case, attorneys filed an emergency motion for immediate release in US District Court in Concord, N.H., on Thursday afternoon to force federal officials to release Méndez as soon as possible.
Presiding Judge Joseph N. Laplante endorsed the order and federal officials now have till Friday afternoon to respond.
Méndez was arrested April 14 by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials after they shattered a window on his vehicle as he and his wife, Marilu Domingo Ortiz, were on their way to a dentist appointment in New Bedford.
Ortiz recorded a video of the incident in which agents forcibly arrested Méndez after pulling him from his car.
The arrest left the family with limited income as Ortiz was forced to stay at home with her son who she said was struggling to eat and was counting down the days till his father’s court hearing.
There were also outstanding questions about whether ICE agents had arrested the person they were after.
Ortiz recalls hearing ICE agents calling for “Antonio.” A man by that name resided at the same address as the couple; he lived on the first floor, the couple lives on the third floor, according to local court records.
Most recently Representative Bill Keating, a Democrat from Bourne, sent letters to federal immigration officials at ICE, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) as well as the FBI, requesting answers about the arrest.
ICE and DHS officials did not respond to a request for comment about the case.
Méndez and his wife both worked in the local seafood processing industry. Ortiz was granted asylum in February 2024 and Méndez is eligible for derivative asylee status through his wife according to federal immigration law, their lawyer explained.
Méndez does not have a criminal record according to state records and in December he provided his fingerprints to USCIS, according to Sniffin.
“We don’t have any problems with this country. It’s fine for [immigration officials] to do their job but not unjustly like they did with my husband,” Ortiz told the Globe.
Meanwhile, while Méndez’s release is pending, a separate civil suit is ongoing.
In that case, a New Hampshire federal judge ordered Trump administration officials to provide 72 hours notice before transferring Mendez anywhere.
The fight over immigration largely plays out in private immigration hearings where the people detained do not have a right to appointed counsel, unlike in criminal courts.
For her part, Ortiz said she’s hopeful but can’t quite believe this moment after waiting for weeks to see whether her husband would be released.
“I hope it happens,” she said holding back tears.
Esmy Jimenez can be reached at esmy.jimenez@globe.com. Follow her @esmyjimenez.