Sign up for the Today newsletter
Get everything you need to know to start your day, delivered right to your inbox every morning.
Lynn 18-year-old who allegedly pushed her brother during an argument is now in ICE custody
Zeneyda Barrera was detained by ICE after she was released from Lynn District Court. Her lawyer says she has legal work status in the U.S.
An 18-year-old woman from Lynn with legal authorization to work in the United States was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents after she was accused of pushing her brother during an argument, according to her lawyer.
Zeneyda Barrera, who was born in Nicaragua, was arrested around 4:30 a.m. Monday after a neighbor called police reporting a “domestic” incident that they believed was “physical,” according to a police report filed in Lynn District Court.
Barrera, who works at Chipotle, allegedly pushed her 12-year-old brother to the floor as the two siblings fought over a cell phone, court records said. Police noted that her brother was not injured, and there was no history of domestic or warrants associated with the address, according to the report.
Advertisement:
Barrera was arrested and charged with an assault and battery misdemeanor, but she was released before her arraignment, according to court records. Lawyer Patrick Callahan, who was assigned to represent Barrera Monday morning, told Boston.com the courts were planning to put her in a diversion program for young adults to drop the charge.
“The district attorney reviewed the case. We both agreed that it was a pretty minor allegation of assault … She had no record, no history, no involvement with the courts at all,” Callahan said.
Callahan said that Barrera was detained by ICE agents at the courthouse Monday immediately after she was released from custody. Currently, she’s being held at Cumberland County Jail in Maine, he said.
Advertisement:
Barrera immigrated to the United States with her family two years ago, her mother, Zeneyda Hernandez-Molina, told The Boston Globe, when the family illegally crossed the border and turned themselves into immigration authorities. The family is applying for asylum, and Barrera herself has work authorization, her mother told the Globe.
Callahan said ICE sometimes takes people into custody from the courthouse, but they generally have no legal status and “are charged with certainly much more serious offenses.”
“For a case like this, that’s getting diverted, where there’s never likely to be any sort of conviction, and for a person who has legal status in this country to be taken into custody is something that shocked me,” Callahan said.
ICE did not return a request for comment Wednesday. Lynn police told Boston.com Thursday that they did not inform ICE about Barrera’s arraignment.
“It is imperative for victims and witnesses to feel confident that they can seek assistance from the police without fear that it may put at risk their presence in the United States,” Lynn Police Chief Christopher Reddy said in a statement. “We remain committed to protecting and supporting all members of this community regardless of immigration status.”
Advertisement:
In a statement, Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said “LPD does not ask for immigration status and cares deeply about keeping the entire community safe.”
“Public safety is always a priority for us,” Nicholson said. “What is concerning about cases such as this one is the potential chilling effect it could have on the good policing that the Lynn Police Department does on a regular basis if people are afraid of the implications of contacting law enforcement.”
Nicholson said Barrera is at risk of being deported “into an impossible situation.”
“We have been told that ICE would be targeting violent offenders whose presence puts our community at risk. Based on what we have learned so far, that is not what is happening in this case,” Nicholson’s statement read. “Her mother is desperately trying to understand what is happening. We have referred her to legal resources and alerted our federal representatives, who are looking into the case.”
This article was updated to include a statement from the Lynn Police Department.
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com