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US customs agents have held a 48-year-old Rhode Island woman in detention at Logan International Airport for a week on immigration-related allegations, though she was in the country lawfully, her attorney said. Eva Helena Mendes, of Woonsocket, was returning from Cape Verde on Nov. 5 when she was stopped by US Customs and Border Protection agents at Logan. She was told that she would be held overnight while customs agents looked into a decade-old warrant. But her attorney, Todd Pomerleau, says that, a week later, she still has not been released. He also says that, while Mendes has been allowed to talk to family members, he’s been denied the opportunity to speak with her directly. Mendes renewed her green card in October, according to a filing in federal court in Boston. She has held legal permanent resident status since first immigrating to the country from Cape Verde at 8 years old. The court filing seeks her immediate release from detention. A court hearing has not been scheduled. Advertisement Mendes had traveled outside the US without incident as recently as last year, according to court filings. She recently returned to Cape Verde, which she had not visited since leaving four decades ago, to attend the funeral of her late brother. Before her trip, she visited an immigration office in Rhode Island and was assured that she would be able to travel safely as a green card holder with her passport, according to court filings. But customs agents at Logan said Mendes would not be allowed to enter the country until a supervisor decided whether she would have to go before an immigration court due to her criminal record. Mendes pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor shoplifting charge in Rhode Island in 2009, according to the filing. She was again charged with shoplifting in 2012, which led to a warrant being issued after she failed to appear at her arraignment. Advertisement Pomerleau, in a phone interview Wednesday, said Mendes’ record did not call for any kind of immigration detention, much less in a makeshift cell at Logan without access to counsel. “She’s hardly dangerous,” he said. “Hardly a flight risk.” Mendes is the mother of six children, all US citizens, whom she raises with a long-term partner, also a citizen, per the filings. “She’s a devoted wife, a hardworking mother of six, and a woman whose kindness and determination have touched every person lucky enough to know her,” read a fundraiser posted in her honor. “Eva has spent her life giving to others — raising her children with love, working tirelessly to provide for her family, and building a future rooted in faith and perseverance." The post said Mendes’ past convictions were not violent or dangerous, adding that she is “a kindhearted woman who deserves compassion and due process.” Jennifer Mehigan, a spokesperson for airport operator Massport, deferred comment to US Customs and Border Protection. CBP did not immediately return a request for comment on Wednesday, nor did a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security. Mendes is just the latest green card holder to face detention after returning to the country. In one case, a Canton woman was held for 10 days, first at Logan and then in Maine, on the grounds of a 2003 conviction for marijuana possession. Before that, a New Hampshire man was held for over a month, fell ill, and was hospitalized. Both had their criminal convictions vacated before being released, with no further immigration proceedings against them. Advertisement Sign up for our “Immigration Unmasked,” the Globe’s newest newsletter. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
