'The public needs to wake up': Rhode Island mom detained at Logan for more than a week

"She has been allowed to speak with family members, but has not been allowed to speak with Pomerleau, he said. To justify her detention, officials must prove that she is either a danger or a flight risk, Pomerleau said. "She has a green card, why would she flee her green card? She's been living here permanently for 40 years," he said."

"In October, Mendes traveled back to Cape Verde after the sudden loss of her brother. "It was also meant to be a joyful reunion - a chance to surprise her mother, whom she hadn't seen in over 40 years. What was meant to be a healing visit of love and family turned into an unimaginable nightmare," the organizer of a GoFundMe set up to support Mendes and her family wrote alongside the online fundraiser."

Eva Helena Mendes is a legal permanent resident and mother of six who immigrated from Cape Verde at age eight and has lived in the United States for 40 years. She traveled to Cape Verde in October after the sudden death of her brother and returned to Logan Airport on Nov. 5. Mendes has been detained by Customs and Border Protection at the airport for more than a week and has been allowed to speak with family but not with legal counsel. Authorities must establish that she poses a danger or a flight risk to justify continued detention. Her record includes misdemeanor shoplifting charges in 2009 and a 2012 charge that led to a warrant after a missed arraignment. A GoFundMe has been created to support her family.

Read at Boston.com