A teenage asylum applicant who lives in Massachusetts has been released from the Cumberland County Jail, where she was held earlier this week at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed Saturday morning.

Zeneyda Barrera Hernandez, an 18-year-old resident of Lynn, Massachusetts, was being held by federal authorities without bail, according to the jail’s booking records. She was booked 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.

Joyce said Barrera Hernandez was released from jail Friday afternoon. She was reunited with her family Friday night, NBC Boston reported.

The teen was arrested by officers with the Lynn Police Department early Monday after she allegedly got into a fight with her 12-year-old brother over a cellphone, Callahan said. When police arrived, the boy told them he was not injured, but officers decided to arrest Barrera Hernandez anyway, he said.

She was released by police Monday morning, but ICE agents were waiting for her in the lockup, Callahan told the Press Herald on Wednesday.

In a news release, the Essex County district attorney’s office in Massachusetts said it had filed a nolle prosequi, which is a formal decision not to prosecute Barrera Hernandez’s case. She was referred to the county’s Youthful Diversion Program, which is open to first-time, nonviolent offenders.

“We hope this means that Zeneyda will be able to come home to her family and we appreciate all the coordination that has taken place with various local, state, and federal agencies,” Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson said in the release.

“What is concerning about cases such as this one is the potential chilling effect it could have on the good policing that the Lynn Police Department does on a regular basis if people are afraid of the implications of contacting law enforcement,” Nicholson continued. “The Lynn Police Department does not ask for immigration status and cares deeply about keeping the entire community safe.”

Barrera Hernandez and her family came to the U.S. from Nicaragua more than a year ago, Callahan said. She was granted a work permit and permission to stay in the country while her application for full asylum is being reviewed.

The Cumberland County Jail regularly holds ICE detainees, Joyce said Wednesday. As of Wednesday morning, the jail held 57 ICE inmates. The jail began taking in federal inmates last year via a contract with the U.S. Marshals Service, resurrecting a practice that had been temporarily suspended in 2022.