NEW BEDFORD, Mass. — Massachusetts Congressman Bill Keating is demanding answers from federal authorities regarding the detention of a New Bedford man on Monday.
Cell phone video showed ICE agents smashing a car window to detain 29-year-old Juan Francisco Mendez, a Guatemalan national who federal authorities say is in the U.S. illegally.
He was taken into custody and now remains detained in New Hampshire.
In a letter sent to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, FBI Director Kash Patel, and leadership of both U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Thursday, Keating is taking issue with Mendez’s arrest.
“I am requesting answers from DOJ and Homeland on various issues surrounding Méndez’s violent detention in New Bedford on Monday as well as demanding an immediate halt to any efforts to remove him from the United States until his asylum claim is decided,” Keating wrote. “There is no excuse for how the Méndez family is being treated - they deserve answers, they deserve to be reunited, and they certainly should not live under the threat of their husband and father facing deportation to a country that the United States has already recognized as unsafe for them to return to.”
Keating also sent a list of questions to federal immigration authorities, asking in part if Mendez was the target of a warrant or detainer on that day. Mendez’s attorney claims that ICE arrested the wrong person.
Furthermore, Keating called into question the federal agents’ use of force tactics.
“Does the violent destruction of the Méndez’s car window, which resulted in shattered glass spreading throughout their occupied vehicle, comply with ICE’s use of force policy?” he asked.
I am requesting answers from DOJ and Homeland on various issues surrounding Francisco Méndez's violent detention in New Bedford as well as demanding an immediate halt to any efforts to remove him from the US until his asylum claim is decided. Full letter: https://t.co/3ony8cy3er pic.twitter.com/dOb70S7zGo
— Congressman Bill Keating (@USRepKeating) April 17, 2025
An ‘ICE’ spokesperson says that Mendez is here “illegally” and they support the actions of the officers on scene, who are trained to use the minimum amount of force necessary.
A federal judge agreed to not move Mendez from New Hampshire for the time being and ordered the government to notify his attorneys 72 hours in advance of a possible transfer or removal.
Mendez has a bail hearing in early May.
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