April 19, 2025
Jaun Carlos Gomez Lopez is an American citizen that was held at a Florida detention heart, even after he produced a beginning certificates.
A U.S. citizen from Georgia was arrested and detained by immigration authorities in Florida regardless of presenting legitimate paperwork confirming his citizenship. He has since been launched.
April 17, round 7 PM a video surfaced of Lopez reuniting together with his mom after being wrongfully held in an ICE detention heart in Florida.
Juan Carlos Gomez Lopez, a U.S.-born resident, was pulled over by a Florida Freeway Patrol trooper for allegedly driving 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, the Florida Pheonix reported. Lopez, who was touring with two different males, was taken into custody below a brand new Florida immigration legislation signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023.
The legislation makes it a felony for any particular person over the age of 18 to “knowingly and willfully” enter Florida if they’ve beforehand entered the US unlawfully, even when federal authorities haven’t deported them. Critics have warned that the legislation’s obscure language may end result within the illegal detention of authorized residents and U.S. residents.
Lopez was born in the US however spent a lot of his life exterior the nation. His first language is Tzotzil, an Indigenous Mayan language spoken in components of southern Mexico and Central America. Language boundaries could have contributed to his arrest, in response to advocates.
After his arrest, Lopez’s mom introduced his beginning certificates to the courthouse to show his citizenship. Leon County Choose LaShawn Riggans confirmed the authenticity of the doc throughout a listening to however mentioned her authority was restricted resulting from an ICE detainer that required Lopez to stay in custody for 48 hours.
“In taking a look at it, and feeling it, and holding it as much as the sunshine, the courtroom can clearly see the watermark to indicate that that is certainly an genuine doc,” Riggans mentioned in courtroom.
Regardless of the verification of his U.S. citizenship, federal immigration officers held Lopez in custody till the ICE detainer expired.
Lopez’s mom, who spoke in Spanish, instructed The Phoenix she felt powerless within the face of the system.
“I wished to inform them, ‘The place are you going to take him? He’s from right here,’” she mentioned after leaving the courtroom. “I felt immense helplessness as a result of I couldn’t do something, and I’m determined to get my son out of there.”
Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson for the Florida Immigrant Coalition who attended the listening to, instructed NBC Information that the case exemplifies the hazards of overly broad state immigration legal guidelines.
“It’s like this bureaucratic, dystopian nightmare of poorly written legal guidelines,” Kennedy mentioned. “We live in a time when this man may get despatched to El Salvador as a result of, what, is he going to be handled like a stateless particular person?”
ICE launched Lopez after his detainer expired. As of Friday, no felony prices associated to his immigration standing had been filed.
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