Zeneyda Barrera Hernandez, an year-old resident of Lynn, Massachusetts, was being held by federal authorities without bail, according to the jail's booking records. She was booked on Monday in Massachusetts by immigration officers and transferred out of state, despite being in the country legally, said Patrick Callahan, who briefly served as her attorney. Barrera Hernandez and her family came to the United States from Nicaragua more than a year ago, he said. The woman was arrested by officers with the Lynn Police Department early Monday after she allegedly got into a fight with her year-old brother over a cellphone, Callahan said.
When police arrived, the boy told them he was not injured, and officers observed no injuries, but they decided to arrest her anyway, he said. Callahan said he and the local district attorney agreed that "it was a pretty low-level offense," and they intended to place Barrera Hernandez into the county's diversion program, which is open to first-time, nonviolent offenders. She wasn't even going to be arraigned on it," Callahan said. Barrera Hernandez was released at around a.
Monday, but ICE agents were waiting for her in the lockup, Callahan said. Callahan said he was assigned the woman's case after 10 a. Monday and only briefly spoke with her, communicating through an interpreter. He told her about the diversion program, and she agreed to participate, he said. Callahan said he only learned that Barrera Hernandez had been transferred to Maine when contacted by a reporter Wednesday morning. He had been searching β without any luck β for her name in the ICE detainee locator system, he said.
Callahan said he did not know why the woman was taken to Maine instead of being kept in-state. Callahan said it was unclear what grounds the federal government has to hold Barrera Hernandez, who was granted a work permit and permission to stay in the country while her application for full asylum is being reviewed.
Barrera Hernandez's detention comes as President Donald Trump has issued a series of executive orders aimed at curtailing illegal immigration and increasing deportations, creating fear and alarm in immigrant communities nationwide two weeks into his term.
