A US-born man initially charged with being an “unauthorized alien” in Florida has been released after spending the night in jail on a 48-hour hold requested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol Wednesday when the car he was riding in was pulled over for a traffic stop, according to his attorney Mutaqee Akbar.
Lopez-Gomez is an American citizen born in Grady County, Georgia, where he currently lives in the city of Cairo. He was crossing the Florida state line for his work in construction in Tallahassee, about 45 minutes away from home.
Lopez-Gomez was released Thursday evening, Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for an immigrant rights coalition that was working with Lopez-Gomez’s family, told CNN.
“He is free!! Thank you to everyone who shared, call(ed) and did anything to help secure his release,” the Florida Immigrant Coalition spokesperson said in a post to X, alongside a photo of an emotional Lopez-Gomez surrounded by supporters.
Earlier Thursday, Lopez-Gomez appeared in court virtually before Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans. The judge was handed a copy of his birth certificate brought by Lopez-Gomez’s mother, Sebastiana Perez.
“In looking at it, and feeling it, and holding it up to the light, the court can clearly see the watermark to show that this is indeed an authentic document,” Riggans said, according to the non-profit news outlet Florida Phoenix, which had a reporter in court for the hearing. The Florida Phoenix first reported the story.
According to court records, Riggans found no probable cause for the charge of crossing into Florida illegally, but said she didn’t have jurisdiction to release Lopez-Gomez because of the ICE hold.
An ICE hold, or immigration detainer, is when ICE asks law enforcement agencies to notify it “before releasing a removable alien” and to “hold the alien for up to 48 hours” to give DHS time take the migrant into custody.
CNN contacted ICE, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Leon County Sheriff’s Office but did not immediately hear back. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency is looking into the incident.
Akbar said family members were told by ICE detention officers that Lopez-Gomez was going to be released Thursday evening.
Kennedy, who was at the Leon County courthouse to assist Lopez-Gomez’s family, said the law the Georgia man was arrested under was temporarily blocked by a judge. SB 4-C penalizes illegal immigrants over the age of 18 “who knowingly enter or attempt to enter this state after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers.” The bill was signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in February but was temporarily blocked this month by Judge Kathleen Williams, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
“It’s a series of horrors,” said attorney Alana Greer, the director and co-founder of the Community Justice Project which represents the Florida Immigrant Coalition, adding that, “no one should have been arrested under this law, let alone a US citizen.” Greer is not representing Lopez-Gomez.
“The judge, the prosecutor, the sheriff and the jail are basically all throwing their hands up and saying, ‘ICE told us to hold him, so we’re going to keep holding him,’ even though no one disagrees with the fact that he’s a citizen. So they’re right now unlawfully holding a US citizen. They’ve dismissed the underlying criminal charges, so the only reason they’re holding him is because ICE sent a piece of paper over that says, ‘Please hold this person for us. We’ll come pick him up later,’” Greer said.
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