Man arrested in Juneau on traffic charges set to be turned over to federal immigration officials

Darwin Mendez-Cando, 46, has lived with family members in Juneau since at least 2024, according to officials; arrest occurs same week as quick deportation of Soldotna family

Lemon Creek Correctional Center. (City and Borough of Juneau photo)

By Mark Sabbatini

Juneau Independent

This story has been updated with additional information.

A Juneau man stopped last week by police for driving with a missing headlight is expected to be turned over to federal immigration officials, according to officials and court records.

Darwin Mendez-Cando, 46, was arrested on Feb. 16 after a Juneau Police Department officer observed the inoperable headlight on Glacier Highway, according to a charging document filed at Juneau’s Dimond Courthouse. 

He was incarcerated at Lemon Creek Correctional Center on charges of driving without a valid license and violating conditions of release, due to a previous arrest of driving under the influence on Sept. 7, 2025.

Mendez-Cando was released on bail Saturday, at which time his federal detainer came into play, according to Alaska Department of Corrections spokesperson Betsy Holley. She confirmed Mendez-Cando was transferred to the Anchorage Correctional Complex as a federal prisoner. As of Wednesday morning, he was still located at ACC.

Holley confirmed three men in Juneau were detained and removed from the community last year by federal immigration officials under similar circumstances.

Joyanne Bloom helps coordinate refugee resettlement efforts in Juneau. She stated in a text message Friday that Mendez-Cando, who is from Ecuador, applied for asylum last spring and “his application was acknowledged but nothing has happened since.” 

Former state Attorney General Bruce Botelho said he is providing limited representation to Mendez-Cando’s spouse, but declined further comment, citing attorney-client privilege. Assembly Member Maureen Hall said she is also working with family members, but declined to provide specifics due to confidentiality regulations as a health care worker.

The two members of his family, including a minor, were not detained as of Wednesday.

Hall said she and other members of the community helped Mendez-Cando and his family obtain housing in 2024, and he was a construction worker. She said a significant number of people from other countries now living in Juneau are in fear of possible ICE enforcement actions similar to those seen in other cities.

JPD Deputy Chief Krag Campbell, in emails to the Juneau Independent on Friday, stated the department was not involved in the notification of Mendez-Cando’s immigration status to federal immigration officials. KTOO last week reported similar circumstances for the three men detained in 2025, including a situation where they went to one person’s house to serve a warrant and were told by people there he’d been deported.

“This recent incident appears consistent with the others,” Campbell wrote.

Hall said her understanding is JPD has not been involved in turning the people detained in Juneau over to ICE.

“It's just the reality that if any immigrant is arrested in this day and age, you know ICE is going to find out about it through their surveillance,” she said.

Multiple requests from the Juneau Independent to the Denali Law Group, which is representing Mendez-Cando, have not received a response.

His arrest occurred a day before immigration enforcement agents “swarmed a Soldotna home Tuesday (Feb. 17) morning and took a family of four, including a kindergartner, into custody,” according to a report by Alaska Public Media. That incident prompted strong denouncements by some state legislators, with the bipartisan House majority issuing a statement Thursday “it is believed to be the first instance in which children have been taken into ICE custody in Alaska.”

The mother and two youngest children have been deported to Tijuana, Mexico, while the oldest, who is 18, reportedly remains in custody at a state correctional facility, according to the statement.

The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing about the detainment of children in Alaska by ICE on Monday.

Editor’s note: Bruce Botelho is the president of the Juneau Independent’s board of directors. Details of Mendez-Cando’s arrest and pending transfer to federal custody were obtained independently from other sources, and Botelho was contacted for comment upon being told he was providing legal representation related to the matter.

• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.