As the controversial Republican-led crackdown on immigration continues to grow despite legal challenges, a new situation has developed: the detention of an American citizen as an “unauthorized alien.”
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez’s arrest adds another wrinkle to the story of who is being targeted and how the government is exceeding its authority.
Detained despite proof of citizenship
The Florida Phoenix reported that 20-year-old Lopez-Gomez was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol when he was a passenger in a vehicle subjected to a traffic stop. He and two other men in the car were held under a Florida law that makes it a misdemeanor offense for an “unauthorized alien” to “knowingly” enter the state “after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers.” After Lopez-Gomez was arrested, the Department of Homeland Security issued a detainer to hold him for 48 hours so Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials could pick him up.
Lopez-Gomez’s family and supporters rightfully pointed out that he was born in Georgia and currently resides there, even producing his birth certificate as proof of his American citizenship. During a court appearance Thursday, Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans examined the document and confirmed its authenticity. When the state prosecutor insisted the court lacked the jurisdiction to release Lopez-Gomez, given the request to hold him for ICE, Riggans apologized to his family. However, Lopez-Gomez was finally released on Thursday evening, reuniting with his mother in an emotional scene.
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