Leaders demand explanation for ICE smashing car window during New Bedford arrest

Calls are growing for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to answer for its actions after a Guatemalan couple was forcefully removed from their car in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with one agent smashing their car window to detain them.

Local and state officials say they've noticed a considerable shift in how immigration officials are going about arrests.

Generally, there's some level of communication between ICE and local police, especially when the target is a dangerous criminal. But local police do not assist with the arrests of non-criminal immigrants, which the New Bedford mayor said is happening more often and without proper notice.

In a news conference Wednesday, New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell said he wants an explanation for why federal agents resorted to smashing a car window with a sledgehammer to arrest the man inside.

"We just don’t get good information out of ICE, information that I think the residents of our city are entitled to," Mitchell said.

Joseph Laplante, a federal district court judge in New Hampshire, said he's considering Mendez's request for a temporary restraining order. In the meantime, Laplante ordered the government to notify the court 72 hours in advance of any plans to remove Mendez from the Strafford County Department of Corrections in Dover, New Hampshire.

Marilu Domingo Ortiz, who took the video from inside the car, said through an interpreter that her husband Juan Francisco Mendez was taken by federal agents Monday outside of their home in the city.

“I was afraid, I didn't even know what to do," she said in Spanish.

Domingo Ortiz doesn't understand why they were targeted, saying she and her son are in the country legally and that her husband was in the process of gaining legal status. They think it may have been a case of mistaken identity.

“We don't know if we're going to pay for the bail or if he's going to be deported. I'm very worried because I, you know, I don't know what's going to happen to my son."

Mitchell is surprised by how agents went about the arrest and says ICE has recently strayed from what used to be a longstanding practice of sharing reliable information.

“If the administration is interested in legitimizing what it's doing, it should communicate," Mitchell said.

Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin pushed back on his comments, saying in a statement Wednesday, "The New Bedford Mayor should check his facts. New Bedford Police Department was notified prior to ICE’s enforcement action."

She added that, "DHS will continue its efforts to remove illegal aliens from American communities. The American people voted for immigration enforcement and President Trump and Secretary Noem are delivering."

In a statement sent Thursday, DHS further defended their actions.

"The officers took appropriate action and followed their training to use the minimum amount of force necessary to resolve the situation in a manner that ensures the success of the operation and prioritizes the safety of our officers," a statement from a senior DHS official reads.

Other cities and towns have also noticed a shift from the start of the Trump administration to know.

“What was communicated at first as a campaign promise at the federal level to make communities safer now is documented that it’s about mass deportation of people who have not committed any crimes," Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said.

Gov. Maura Healey said her administration also wants answers.

“We need some explanations from the Department of Homeland Security about exactly what they are doing. There’s been zero information provided," Healey said in response to the recent actions, including the New Bedford incident.

“To apprehend somebody by smashing their window, pulling them out of their car, it’s incredibly disturbing and I think people need to realize this is happening," Healey said.

She added that she believes in enforcing the law but that she feels DHS and ICE are going "whatever they want to do."

“I'm all for getting the bad guys OK?....but that's not what we're seeing and it's not right.”

U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass, also weighed in, saying it's an issue of honoring the basic protections offered to anyone in our country.

"One thing that is absolutely imperative is that no one in our country is allowed to act without due process, without ensuring that there are full protections that are provided to every individual in our country. It is imperative that we that we guarantee the rights of everyone in our nation," Markey said.