Police have admitted they wrongly pulled over a Mexican-born college student before sending her to an ICE facility.
Despite the admission from Dalton Police Department, Ximena Arias-Cristobal is still in Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, and faces deportation to the country she left as a toddler.
The 19-year-old Dalton State College student was accused of making an illegal right turn at a red light in Dalton last Monday. She was thrown into ICE detention with chains around her wrists and ankles.
Local police and the prosecuting attorney of the city of Dalton have now dismissed the charges after a review of the dash cam video of the traffic stop showed that the student’s vehicle appeared similar to the offending one.
She faces a judge on May 20 for a scheduled bond hearing. She remains on ICE’s online system and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the MAGA congresswoman whose district includes Dalton, has indicated she will still be deported.
“Ms. Cristobal was incredibly fortunate to grow up in a beautiful part of the world—Dalton, Georgia,” Greene said.
“While local Dalton officials dropped her charges, the facts remain: she was driving illegally without a license and has no legal basis to remain in the United States.”
The teenager had been cited for an improper right turn, but she also told traffic cops that she had an international driver’s license and not the required Georgia state driver’s license.
“I’m grateful the Trump Administration is upholding our nation’s immigration laws and keeping families together, it’s the right thing to do,” Greene added.
Dalton’s assistant chief of police, Chris Crossen, meanwhile, appeared sympathetic. He said at a press conference on Monday: “We certainly regret the circumstances that led us to where we are today.”
“Ximena is one of many young, innocent people who have had the misfortune of being caught up in Trump’s cruel dragnet,” her attorney, Dustin Baxter, told The Independent.
“The fact that Ximena, like many others, has committed no crime for which they can be deported means nothing anymore,” he added.
The fact she has been in the U.S. since she was 4 years old and is active in her community “means nothing to ICE,” Baxter said.
Earlier this year ICE brought back a “no release” policy, which makes Arias-Cristobal’s chances of re-entering her adoptive hometown unlikely.
Baxter said the policy “makes a mockery of Trump’s promise to deport ‘bad people.’”
State Rep. Kacey Carpenter, a Republican, has urged the judge to release the student.
“She is not a danger to the community,” he said in an open letter. “She’s been here for 15 years. Never been in trouble, good student, good athlete, etc, etc.
“I understand that we’re deporting people, but can we focus on people that are trying to be a danger to society, and not people that are here through no fault of their own, that are an asset to the community, that are providing opportunities moving forward for community, for the state.”
Arias Tovar, a 43-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested for speeding and driving without a license. Arias Tovar self-admitted that he is in the country illegally. His daughter, Ximena Arias Cristobal, a 19-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was arrested on May 5,… https://t.co/riCfZ6GoC8
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) May 8, 2025
Arias-Cristobal’s father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, was also scooped up as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. He was detained three weeks ago after being caught going 19 miles over the speed limit in nearby Tunnel Hill.
The two family members are being housed in the same ICE facility, a three-and-a-half-hour drive from their hometown.
“The family will be able to return to Mexico together. Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. We are not ignoring the rule of law,” the Department of Homeland Security wrote on X after the teen’s arrest.
“Both father and daughter were in this country illegally and they have to face the consequences,” DHS said Tuesday.
The agency has been contacted for an updated statement.
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