Misunderstanding Resolved in Court with Document Submission
But Not Released Immediately Due to Immigration Authorities' Action
A man in his twenties, who was born in the United States but is not fluent in English, was detained for 48 hours on suspicion of being an illegal immigrant before being released.
Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez (20), a U.S. citizen, was detained as an illegal immigrant but released after 48 hours and reunited with his mother. Photo by AP Yonhap News
On April 18 (local time), AP and CNN reported that Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez (20), a U.S. citizen, was recently charged with illegal residency in Florida, detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and released only after 48 hours. According to his attorney and the arrest affidavit, Lopez Gomez, who lives in Cairo in southern Georgia, was driving with two coworkers to a construction site in Tallahassee, Florida?about a 45-minute drive from his home?on April 16 when they were stopped by police for speeding.
The police determined that the men were illegal immigrants and arrested and detained all of them. Florida law prohibits individuals who are illegally present in the United States from entering the state. The police took action based on this law.
Additionally, according to documents submitted to the court, police asked the men if they were illegal immigrants, and the documents state that they answered "yes." However, Lopez Gomez's attorney contends that he never gave such an answer. His attorney also noted that Lopez Gomez primarily speaks an indigenous language and is not proficient in either English or Spanish.
During a hearing held the previous morning, Lopez Gomez's mother presented his birth certificate and Social Security card, confirming his identity and clearing him of the illegal residency charge. However, due to ICE's "48-hour hold" policy for detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants, Lopez Gomez was not released immediately after the hearing and had to spend an additional half day in jail. ICE has reportedly not commented on the matter.
Alana Greer, an attorney with the immigrant rights advocacy group Florida Immigrant Coalition, stated, "The police arrested him because he was not fluent in English and charged him under a state law that is currently under a court-ordered injunction. No one should be prosecuted under this law, and certainly not a U.S. citizen." The Florida law that served as the basis for the arrests went into effect in February, but a court order temporarily suspended its enforcement on April 4 due to a constitutional challenge. This has led U.S. media outlets to question why the police applied this law in the first place.
CNN pointed out that, as the second Trump administration intensifies efforts to deport undocumented immigrants, this incident has raised concerns that authorities may be using racially discriminatory standards during arrest and detention processes, thereby infringing on immigrants' rights.
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