An American citizen born in the United States was arrested on Thursday at the request of the immigration authorities, although a lawyer was in court and a district judge who found no reason to be classified as a “illegal foreigner” who entered illegally Florida.
The 20-year-old Juan Carlos Gomez-Lopez was arrested by Florida Highway Patrol on Thursday evening and charged according to a state immigration law that has been temporarily blocked since the beginning of this month. Details on Gomez-Lopez 'arrest and imprisonment were first reported by the Florida Phoenix News Site.
After the inspection of his birth certificate, the judge of Leon County, Lashawn Riggans, said during the hearing that “this is actually an authentic document”, but that she was not responsible as not finding any probable reason for the indictment.
The task of the immigration and customs authority is to enforce the immigration laws that generally apply to non -citizens. After the fourth amendment of the constitution, American citizens are protected against inappropriate search and confiscation, arrest and detention.
Nevertheless, he remains on site at the request of ICE, said Thomas Kennedy, spokesman for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, who attended the hearing at the hearing on Thursday on Thursday.
“Everything he is sent to an ice rinking center,” he told NBC News in a telephone interview.
NBC News asked the state and federal authorities for a comment.
Gomez-Lopez was in a vehicle with other passengers and traveled from Georgia to work when they were stopped after entering Florida.
A comprehensive immigration law of governor Ron Desantis in 2023 makes it a state crime for an immigrant without papers over 18 years in order to enter the state illegally.
Gomez-Lopez was born in Georgia, but lived a large part of his life in Mexico. His first language is Tzotzil, a Maya language, reported Florida Phoenix.
His mother broke out into tears when she saw her son practically at his hearing, the news side reported.
“I felt immense helpless because I couldn't do anything and I am desperate to get my son out of it,” she told Florida Phoenix.
Kennedy compared the situation with Franz Kafka's novel “The Trial”, in which people have to defend themselves against an indictment, but has no information about it.
“It is like this bureaucratic, dystopic nightmare poorly written laws,” said Kennedy. “We live in a time when this man could be sent to El Salvador, because what is he treated like an stateless person?”
Kennedy referred to the hundreds of immigrants who were sent to an El Salvador Megaprison by the Trump administration after being accused of being gang members under the law of enemies of the war. Families, lawyers and some US legislators could not have any contact with them.
Cristian Santana contributed.
