On Monday, federal immigration agents smashed the car window of Guatemalan immigrant Juan Francisco Méndez and arrested him on a street in New Bedford, Massachusetts, as his wife looked on.
Méndez, 29, has been taken to a detention facility in New Hampshire. He has been in the US lawfully for two years, and he and his wife have no criminal record. His wife, Marilú Domingo Ortiz, was granted asylum after fleeing persecution in Guatemala and, because the two are legally married, Méndez has received the same protection. They have a nine-year-old son who is in school.
A smartphone video taken from inside their car shows a group of police officers—apparently Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, at least one of whom was in plain clothes—demanding that Méndez and his wife, Marilú, open their door or roll down their window so they can “talk, just talk.”
Speaking in Spanish through the car window, Méndez says, “My lawyer is on her way,” and “I will only speak when my lawyer arrives.” The officer then says, “Tell the lawyer to hurry up.” Juan replies, “She says she’ll be here in half an hour,” and then carefully places both hands on the steering wheel.
Marilú, who is on the phone with an attorney, asks the officers through the window, “Excuse me, do you have a warrant?” and “Do you have an arrest warrant?” When the officers do not respond, Marilú asks, “Can I leave?” to which one officer responds quickly, “No.”
Also speaking in Spanish, the individual in plain clothes approaches the car door and says, “I can open the door. Do you understand me?” and Marilú says, “Yes.” The officer then threatens, “Do you want it hard or easy?” to which Marilú replies, “Yes, but when my lawyer is present.”
One of the officers then approaches the rear passenger side door with a large pick-axe and smashes the rear door window while the other officers open the front passenger door where Marilú is sitting. At this point, there is a break in the video.
When it resumes, Marilú appears saying in tears, “They pulled us out violently. They treated us very harshly.”
In a report by WPRI 12 News, which covers Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts, their attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin gave a statement. She said her clients were told the agents were looking for someone named “Antonio.”
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Not long until Kristallnacht now