A quiet Monday morning in New Bedford, Massachusetts turned into a traumatic ordeal for one family when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shattered a car window with a hammer to detain a Guatemalan man who was on his way to a dental appointment.
The incident, caught on video by his wife, is now sparking outrage and raising serious questions about ICE tactics and mistaken identity.
Juan Francisco Mendez, 29, had no criminal record and was in the process of obtaining asylum, joining his wife and nine-year-old son who had already been granted protection in the U.S. due to fears of persecution in Guatemala.
But none of that stopped ICE agents from smashing his vehicle window and pulling him from the car in front of his wife and child.
“They said they were looking for someone named Antonio,” explained immigration attorney Ondine Galvez Sniffin, who represents Mendez.
“I told them that was not my client. He has no criminal history.”
According to Galvez Sniffin, the agents ignored documentation proving Mendez’s pending asylum status and forcibly detained him anyway.
The video of the incident shows agents using a long handled hammer, and some witnesses say an axe, to break the glass and apprehend Mendez.
His wife, Marilu Domingo Ortiz, can be heard pleading as her husband is dragged from the car in handcuffs. “He shouted ‘help me’ in Spanish,” she later said through a translator, tearfully recalling the moment.
“He was scared, and so was I,” Ortiz said. “We came here for a better life. We didn’t expect something like this to happen to us.”
Ortiz’s son has reportedly stopped eating in the aftermath of the arrest, consumed by worry and fear.
“She’s trying to be strong for her son,” Galvez Sniffin shared. “But she keeps asking me when her husband will come home and I don’t have any answers.”
ICE released a statement confirming Mendez’s detention, calling him “an illegally present Guatemalan alien.” The agency claimed he resisted arrest, stating:
“Officers are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes officer safety.”
But lawyers, local leaders, and community activists disagree.
“This looked more like a military style raid than an immigration procedure,” said Adrian Ventura, a local community organizer who witnessed the arrest. “It was violent. One agent just started smashing the window and glass flew everywhere. It was like an explosion.”
New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell has demanded clarity, questioning whether ICE followed proper protocol and why local authorities weren’t notified in advance.
“Are these agents truly targeting criminals or just rounding up people with unclear immigration status?” he posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Mendez is currently being held in an ICE facility in Dover, New Hampshire. His legal team has obtained a court order requiring 72 hour notice before ICE moves him, allowing time to contest the detention. Despite repeated requests, ICE has not disclosed any specific charges against him.
Galvez Sniffin emphasized that her client had been fingerprinted in December and nothing concerning showed up.
“He’s worked in the seafood industry here. He’s never been in trouble. There was no reason to treat this family this way,” she said. “And they refused to even glance at the documents proving he’s applying for asylum.”
The case echoes other recent ICE incidents that have stirred backlash, including the arrest of Elsy Noemi Berrios in Maryland where agents smashed her window to detain her, and the detention of Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk, who was recorded screaming as agents handcuffed her on a suburban street.
As outrage builds over the forceful tactics used by ICE, this New Bedford case is becoming a flashpoint in the national immigration debate, one that continues to divide the public even as families like the Mendez Domingos are left shattered by the fallout.
“I just want my husband home,” Ortiz said. “We didn’t come here to hide. We came here to live.”
Featured Image Credit: (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)(Associated Press via Youtube)
