Immigration Court Judge Donald Ostrom said he was dismissing a case against Juan Francisco Méndez because immigration authorities had failed to properly file the necessary paperwork to charge him, according to his attorney, Ondine Galvez-Sniffin.
In court, Galvez-Sniffin said, the the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was unable to account for itself when asked about the unfiled charging documents.
“The government didn’t answer. Instead, it was the clerk who answered and said, ‘No, there’s nothing in the file,’” Galvez-Sniffin said. “There was a pause to give the DHS time to respond, possibly say it will be filed later or whatever their explanation may have been. But instead, there was silence. And so the judge said, ‘Well, this case is going to be put under the category of failure to prosecute,’ and therefore it’s closed.”
Méndez’s arrest on April 14 drew widespread attention and criticism because ICE agents used an axe to break through his car window to detain him. He was later taken to Strafford County Department of Corrections in Dover, N.H.
When reached by phone Thursday evening, Méndez’s wife, Marilú Domingo Ortiz, said she had read the news of the judge’s order on her phone but had not yet spoken with their attorney about the details.
“I don’t know how to describe how I’m currently feeling, because they haven’t called to confirm what the situation is,” she said in Spanish. “That’s where I’m at right now.”
Juan Francisco Méndez and his family came to the U.S. two years ago, fleeing violence in Guatemala. His wife and son have been granted asylum, but his case is still pending.
Méndez’s attorney, Galvez-Sniffin, said she plans to discuss the possibility of filing a civil suit for the violation of Méndez’s Constitutional rights after he’s had time to reunite with his family.
Galvez-Sniffin said she found the government’s actions in the case “completely mind blowing” considering the “extremes” ICE agents went to in detaining Méndez and the outcome of the case.
“In this infamous video you can see how aggressive they were to detain this individual,” she said. “And then when you know it came time for them to put up [their documents] their silence spoke volumes. They basically, I would say, conceded that they made a mistake.”
