Georgia-born Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was arrested over a Florida immigration law that had been blocked from enforcement.
A U.S. citizen who spent a night in a Florida jail on suspicion of being an « unauthorized alien » has been freed.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, who was born in Grady County, Georgia, was held at the Leon County Jail, despite a judge being shown his birth certificate in court at the request of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Newsweek has contacted ICE and the Florida Highway Patrol for comment via email.
The incident comes as President Donald Trump’s administration faces legal scrutiny and criticism for mistakenly flying Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man, to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process. The White House accuses Garcia of being a member of the MS-13 gang, which his attorneys and family deny.
Trump has pledged to conduct the largest deportation operation in American history as his administration looks to remove millions of undocumented immigrants. The White House has said anyone living in the country unlawfully is considered a « criminal » by the federal government. Since the beginning of Trump’s second term, thousands of migrants have been arrested.
Lopez-Gomez was detained Wednesday by the Florida Highway Patrol after crossing the state line to work at his construction job in Tallahassee.
