Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended the looming deportation of a college student in her district.
Chattanooga Local 3 News anchor LaTrice Currie asked the far-right congresswoman on Thursday if the government intends to deport 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal, whom police erroneously charged with making an improper turn and driving without a valid license on May 5. They had pulled over the wrong car, and all charges were later dropped. In the process, however, police learned that Arias-Cristobal was in the country illegally, and authorities are now arranging for her deportation.
“The law is the law, and we don’t get to pick and choose who gets to break the law and who gets to follow the law,” Greene insisted. “It’s important for us to uphold the law, and that’s the most important thing that we can do and our government can do.”
“It’s unfortunate that this young lady’s parents never pursued a path to citizenship when they illegally brought her into the country when she was a young child,” Greene continued.
Arias-Cristobal, a student at Georgia’s Dalton State Community College, was born in Mexico and came to the United States when she was four years old. Because she didn’t qualify for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) protections—a program that shields the children of undocumented immigrants from deportation—Immigration and Customs Enforcement kept her in detention after her traffic stop.
Greene, noting that Arias-Cristobal grew up in a “great area” and “got a great education,” said she’ll get along just fine in the country of her birth.
“In Mexico today, there’s over 1.6 million United States of America living and thriving in Mexico, and I’m sure her family will be able to do the same,” she said.
A judge granted Arias-Cristobal a $1,500 bond on Wednesday.
“The judge had reviewed Ximena’s case in detail and determined that Ximena is in fact not a flight risk or a danger to the community in the least,” her lawyer, Dustin Baxter, said in a statement, according to NBC News. “The family will pay the bond ASAP, and Ximena will be home with her family tomorrow afternoon at the latest.”
The Department of Homeland Security said it’s committed to moving forward with the deportations of Arias-Cristobal and her father, who had also been held in the ICE Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, after a separate traffic stop weeks ago.
“Both father and daughter were in this country illegally,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “The United States is offering aliens like this father and daughter $1,000 apiece and a free flight to self-deport now. We encourage every person here illegally to take advantage of this offer and reserve the chance to come back to the U.S. the right legal way to live the American dream. If not, you will be arrested and deported without a chance to return.”
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