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Rhode Island mom held at Logan for 13 days likely heading to Maine ICE facility
Eva Mendes's lawyer says the federal government is giving him the "runaround" as he seeks information about her "unconscionable" detainment.
A Rhode Island mother who has been held at Logan Airport for almost two weeks will likely be transferred to an ICE facility in Maine in the coming days. The development comes as her lawyer continues to voice frustrations with a lack of information from federal authorities, who he says have not clearly specified the reasons for her detainment.
“It’s deplorable, it’s unconscionable, it’s unconstitutional,” attorney Todd Pomerleau told Boston.com Tuesday about the detainment of his client, Eva Mendes of Woonsocket.
Mendes, a Cape Verdean national who came to the US as an 8-year-old, has been living in the country for the past 40 years. She has raised six children here and is a legal permanent resident.
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After the sudden loss of her brother in October, Mendes flew to Cape Verde to mourn and reconnect with family she had not seen in years. Mendes has traveled outside the country in recent years without incident, and even reportedly went to an immigration office in Rhode Island before the trip to make sure it would be safe to do so.
Upon arriving back at Logan on Nov. 5, Mendes was detained by Customs and Border Protection agents. Last week, a CBP spokesperson confirmed that Mendes arrived as a legal permanent resident, but was detained after officers discovered her “criminal history and past convictions.” She is remaining in custody pending a hearing with an immigration judge, they said.
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CBP did not return a request for comment Tuesday.
Mendes had been allowed to speak with family on the phone, but was denied access to counsel until recently. Pomerleau’s efforts to try to speak with her were rebuffed until he told the U.S. Attorney’s office on Friday that he would be filing a motion demanding access to his client. By Saturday, CBP allowed Pomerleau to speak with Mendes. Through tears, she told him that she recently missed the birth of her first grandchild, Pomerleau said. He characterized the conversation as “traumatizing.”
Federal officials say that there are not enough beds for female detainees in Massachusetts, so Pomerleau agreed to have Mendes transferred to an ICE detention facility in Maine. Better methods of communication will be available to her there, he said.
Mendes pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor shoplifting charge in 2009, according to court documents obtained by The Boston Globe. In 2012, she was again charged with shoplifting and was issued a warrant after failing to appear at her arraignment.
But Pomerleau still says that he has not been told exactly what the reasons are for Mendes’s detainment. He has reviewed those criminal records and does not believe the federal government has a valid reason to hold her like this. Mendes is not a threat to the public or a flight risk, considering the fact that she has a large family in Rhode Island and was on her way back into the U.S.
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In the initial wake of Mendes’s detainment at Logan, Pomerleau sought a court order barring federal officials from moving her out of Massachusetts. This was done to make sure Mendes was not “surreptitiously removed” from the U.S. or “transferred to some hellhole,” he said. A judge granted the order.
But in a “bizarre” twist, CBP is now saying that they are holding Mendes in accordance with this no-transfer order, according to Pomerleau. This makes no sense, he says, because CBP initially prevented Mendes from speaking with Pomerleau by saying that she was not officially in the U.S. yet.
“I’m getting the runaround. I’m getting contradictory information,” he said.
In order for Mendes to go to Maine, she must be transferred from CBP custody to ICE custody. But first officials have to make a decision about what charges Mendes is facing, Pomerleau said.
“The government still doesn’t necessarily know why she’s detained,” he said. “She’s being treated like she has no rights, not even the right to know why she’s being held.”
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