Juan Francisco Méndez is being reunited with his family after nearly a month at the Strafford County Department of Corrections in Dover, N.H. He was released Thursday on a $1,500 bond, according to his attorney, Ondine Galvez-Sniffin.
Méndez was detained in April after ICE agents smashed through his car window with an axe. He was held without charges for most of the time he was in custody.
“I think today’s decision is a reaffirmation of everything that we’ve been saying from the beginning. Immigrants have rights in this country, regardless of their immigration status and we have to fight for them,” Galvez-Sniffin said. “If we’re silent, if we let people just, you know, run right over us, then we’ve already defeated ourselves.”
Méndez was due to be released last week after Immigration Court Judge Donald Ostrom said he was dismissing his case because immigration authorities had failed to properly file the necessary documents at the time. But his detention was prolonged after Judge Joseph N. LaPlante denied a motion for his immediate release.
Galvez-Sniffin said Méndez’s detention was prolonged because the government had incorrectly given her client at least three different Alien Registration Numbers, unique identification numbers assigned by the federal government for immigrants going through different federal legal proceedings.
Peter S. Margulies, a professor of law at Roger Williams University School of Law, said it is not unheard of for someone to be assigned multiple so-called A-Numbers, but those errors are usually noticed and quickly corrected by merging the numbers.
Galvez-Sniffin said earlier this week she believed Méndez was being held longer as punishment for the media attention his case received through a viral video his wife recorded of ICE agents detaining him after breaking through their car window with an axe. On Thursday, she called Méndez’s release “a very very happy ending.”
“I’m afraid that there may be more situations like this in the near future, and we just have to be ready for it,” Galvez-Sniffin said. “And I think what’s really important is to know that those of us that are fighting for the immigrant community – we’re not alone. I didn’t do this on my own.”
Galvez-Sniffin said Méndez still needs to have another virtual hearing before his case is fully resolved. Once Méndez has had time to spend with his family, his attorney says she plans to discuss the possibility of pursuing a civil lawsuit for violation of his Constitutional rights.
“I certainly think there’s enough reason for it. Of course, in the end, he’s the client and he’s my boss, and he’ll tell me what he wants to do,” Galvez-Sniffin said, noting that Méndez is currently seeking asylum to remain in the U.S.
“He needs to consider his individual interests of finalizing and legalizing his status here in the U.S., so there’s a lot to balance, and I’m sure he’ll make the decision that’s best for him and his family,” she said.
Méndez and his wife and son fled violence in Guatemala in 2023 to come to the U.S. His wife and son have already been granted asylum.
