Latest news with #JuanCarlosLopez-Gomez
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
This Glitchy, Error-Prone Tool Could Get You Deported—Even If You're a U.S. Citizen
Sign up for the Slatest to get the most insightful analysis, criticism, and advice out there, delivered to your inbox daily. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, despite his U.S. citizenship and Social Security card, was arrested on April 16 on an unfounded suspicion of him being an 'unauthorized alien.' Immigration and Customs Enforcement kept him in county jail for 30 hours 'based on biometric confirmation of his identity'—an obvious mistake of facial recognition technology. Another U.S. citizen, Jensy Machado, was held at gunpoint and handcuffed by ICE agents. He was another victim of mistaken identity after someone else gave his home address on a deportation order. This is the reality of immigration policing in 2025: Arrest first, verify later. That risk only grows as ICE shreds due process safeguards, citizens and noncitizens alike face growing threats from mistaken identity, and immigration policing agencies increasingly embrace error-prone technology, especially facial recognition. Last month, it was revealed that Customs and Border Protection requested pitches from tech firms to expand their use of an especially error-prone facial recognition technology—the same kind of technology used wrongly to arrest and jail Lopez-Gomez. ICE already has nearly $9 million in contracts with Clearview AI, a facial recognition company with white nationalist ties that was at one point the private facial recognition system most used by federal agencies. When reckless policing is combined with powerful and inaccurate dragnet tools, the result will inevitably be more stories like Lopez-Gomez's and Machado's. Studies have shown that facial recognition technology is disproportionately likely to misidentify people of color, especially Black women. And with the recent rapid increase of ICE activity, facial recognition risks more and more people arbitrarily being caught in ICE's dragnet without rights to due process to prove their legal standing. Even for American citizens who have 'nothing to hide,' simply looking like the wrong person can get you jailed or even deported. While facial recognition's mistakes are dangerous, its potential for abuse when working as intended is even scarier. For example, facial recognition lets Donald Trump use ICE as a more powerful weapon for retribution. The president himself admits he's using immigration enforcement to target people for their political opinions and that he seeks to deport people regardless of citizenship. In the context of a presidential administration that is uncommonly willing to ignore legal procedures and judicial orders, a perfectly accurate facial recognition system could be the most dangerous possibility of all: Federal agents could use facial recognition on photos and footage of protests to identify each of the president's perceived enemies, and they could be arrested and even deported without due process rights. And the more facial recognition technology expands across our daily lives, the more dangerous it becomes. By working with local law enforcement and private companies, including by sharing facial recognition technology, ICE is growing their ability to round people up—beyond what they already can do. This deputization of surveillance infrastructure comes in many forms: Local police departments integrate facial recognition into their body cameras, landlords use facial recognition instead of a key to admit or deny tenants, and stadiums use facial recognition for security. Even New York public schools used facial recognition on their security camera footage until a recent moratorium. Across the country, other states and municipalities have imposed regulations on facial recognition in general, including Boston, San Francisco, Portland, and Vermont. Bans on the technology in schools specifically have been passed in Florida and await the governor's signature in Colorado. Any facial recognition, no matter its intended use, is at inherent risk of being handed over to ICE for indiscriminate or politically retaliatory deportations. At state and local levels, however, there is a way to fight back. For example, there is a package of 'Ban the Scan' bills in the New York State Legislature and New York City Council to curb the use of facial recognition: by police (S5609/A1045), by landlords (A6363 and Intro. 425), by public accommodations (A6211 and Intro. 217), and to make permanent the ban on its use in schools (S3827/A6720). And while New York, the most surveilled city in the country, has the opportunity to lead the way, legislative protections against the risks of facial recognition must proliferate nationwide to fully protect our communities. The only way to completely prevent Trump—or any future authoritarian—from allowing this tech to do his and ICE's bidding is to prevent the use of facial recognition in the first place. Because of the immense power of facial recognition to target political enemies and indiscriminately deport any of us, and because the system's racially biased inaccuracy is already causing wrongful arrests, banning facial recognition is an essential step toward preventing authoritarian overreach. The New York State Legislature can and should pass the Ban the Scan package of facial recognition bills, and the rest of the country should follow suit in protecting communities from this force multiplier for tyranny.
Int'l Business Times
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
A Look At The U.S. Citizens Who Have Been Deported By The Trump Administration So Far
The Trump administration is cramming to fulfill its mass deportation promises of ousting around 1 million immigrants this year alone. But as they race to meet those numbers, mistakes have been made, resulting in over a dozen U.S. citizens being swept up in the system. The true scope of U.S. citizens wrongfully deported is not known as the federal government does not release data on how often members of this group are mistakenly detained or even removed from the country. However, The Washington Post estimated that there are at least 12 well-known cases, drawing conclusions from court records, interviews and news reports. In one of the most notorious instances, three children who are U.S. citizens — aged 2, 4 and 7— were removed to Honduras along with their undocumented mothers, according to attorneys and court records. One child, a 4-year-old boy with Stage 4 cancer, was sent without medication or access to his doctors. Both families were detained at routine immigration check-ins in New Orleans, denied communication with attorneys or family members and placed on a flight to Honduras the following morning. Another minor, a 10-year-old girl from Texas was detained on Feb. 3 with her family at a Border Patrol checkpoint after they were rushing to the hospital to treat the girl, who is being treated for a rare brain tumor. Her parents are undocumented immigrants , yet they are applying for special victims of human trafficking. They carried birth certificates for their five U.S.-born children, medical records and letters from doctors and lawyers, yet they were still detained and later expelled to Reysona, Mexico. The patient's medication was also confiscated. But not all citizens who have been caught up in the immigration system have been detained, but not deported . In Florida, for instance, Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old citizen, was detained by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop near the Georgia-Florida line. Despite presenting his birth certificate and Social Security card, he was arrested under Florida Senate Bill 4-C— a law targeting unauthorized migrants in the state, which had been temporarily blocked by a federal court. Lopez-Gomez was held in Leon County Jail for 24 hours, even after a judge verified his citizenship and dismissed the charges against him. Other victims include Jose Hermosillo, an Arizona citizen detained and released by Border Patrol for nine days; Julio Noriega, a Chicago-born man who was held in ICE detention for over 10 hours; Jensy Machado, a Virginia man detained while driving to work; Jonathan Guerrero, a Pennsylvania man arrested during an ICE raid at a Philadelphia car wash; and a military veteran from Puerto Rico who was arrested in New Jersey during a raid at a seafood business. The cases have alarmed attorneys, civil rights advocates and immigration scholars, who warn that citizens are becoming increasingly vulnerable in a system moving faster and operating with fewer safeguards, according to another Washington Post report. "As immigration officials become more indiscriminate about who they're targeting— all while they're pressured to deport people faster and to avoid immigration court proceedings— it creates a situation in which the possibility of illegally detaining and deporting a U.S. citizen rises immensely, because citizenship is not something that we can spot on people's foreheads," said Cesar Cuauhtemoc Garcia Hernandez, a law professor at Ohio State University. However, DHS is seemingly denying any wrongdoing, telling The Post in a statement: "we don't have data to provide you on the deportation of U.S. citizens because we don't deport U.S. citizens." Originally published on Latin Times
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Dems want answers on U.S. citizen arrest after police ordered to stand down on immigration law
Two protesters demanding Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez's release from Leon County jail hugged him and his mother in the parking lot of the jail on April 17, 2025. (Photo by Jackie Llanos/Florida Phoenix) House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell said Monday the DeSantis administration needs to answer for the arrest last week of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen, under a suspended immigration law. During a press conference Monday, Driskell highlighted Florida Highway Patrol's arrest of Lopez-Gomez on Wednesday, when he was a passenger in a car during a traffic stop on his way to work from Cairo, Georgia, to Tallahassee. The 20-year-old, born in Georgia, was charged under a temporarily suspended law making it a first-degree misdemeanor to illegally enter the state as an 'unauthorized alien.' The case garnered national attention following Florida Phoenix's reporting on Thursday. Lopez-Gomez was released from jail Thursday evening, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is in custody of the driver of the car, who doesn't enjoy legal permanent status, in a Broward County transitional center. 'We are a nation of laws, and no one — not Ron DeSantis, not Donald Trump — no one gets to decide to imprison people without cause,' Driskell said. 'We need better answers about this. Ron DeSantis and his administration need to answer for this unlawful arrest, and for the pain and suffering they caused, and the fear that they continue to stoke throughout our communities.' Although Attorney General James Uthmeier argues that the federal prohibition on enforcement of the law, SB 4C, doesn't apply to law enforcement, he sent a memo Friday to FHP, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, police chiefs, and sheriffs stating that they shouldn't arrest or detain anyone under the suspended law. 'I should also note that while my office represents the current defendants named in this case, it does not represent nonparties like your law enforcement agencies,' Uthmeier wrote in the memo. The new attorney general, who used to be Gov. DeSantis' chief of staff, said the state would continue this argument in the federal court for the Southern District of Florida or an appellate court. His memo came at the direction of U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams on Friday, when she extended the bar on enforcement until the next hearing on April 29. The judge had barred enforcement of the law on April 4, a little over a month after DeSantis signed it, and she expressed frustration during the Friday hearing in Miami about Lopez-Gomez's arrest. Immigrant advocacy groups, Florida Immigrant Coalition and Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., and two women without permanent legal status are suing Uthmeier, the statewide prosecutor, and state attorneys over the constitutionality of the law. 'We appreciate that the federal courts have seen through this blatantly unconstitutional law, but the reality is that, without enforcement, it seems that local law enforcement and Florida Highway Patrol are continuing to ignore the judge and order,' said Miriam Fahsi Haskell, an attorney for Community Justice Project representing the plaintiffs, in a phone interview with the Phoenix Friday. 'The reality is that once a person is arrested under SB 4C and booked into jail, that person risks then having an ICE hold on them.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US-born man held by ICE despite showing birth certificate in court has been released
An American citizen who was held in jail on suspicion of being an "unauthorized alien" has been freed. The backstory Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was born in Grady County, Georgia but was arrested on April 16 by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper when the car he was riding in was pulled over for speeding, CNN reported. The 20-year-old man was held at a local jail despite a judge being shown his birth certificate in court at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The 20-year-old man resides in Cairo, Georgia but traveled into Florida for a construction job. RELATED: Federal judge warns of criminal contempt for Trump officials in deportation dispute Local perspective Newsweek reported that Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was detained for suspicion of violating legislation signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis that makes it illegal for undocumented immigrants over the age of 18 to "knowingly" travel into Florida after avoiding inspection by immigration officers. According to the news outlet Florida Phoenix, Lopez-Gomez appeared in court virtually before a judge on April 17. Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans received a copy of his birth certificate and Social Security card to prove his U.S. citizenship. After his release Lopez-Gomez told Florida Phoenix "I feel fine leaving that place. I felt bad in there. They didn't give us anything to eat all day yesterday." He is scheduled to have a court appearance on May 6 in Leon County, Florida. In a separate case, theTrump administration mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison, but does not intend to return him to the U.S. despite a Supreme Court ruling that the administration must "facilitate" his release. The Source Information for this story was provided by Newsweek, CNN, and Florida Phoenix, which received comments from Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Yahoo
US citizen detained by ICE in Florida released amid immigration crackdown
An American citizen detained at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was released after being charged as an 'unauthorized alien' during his arrest in Florida. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, was taken into custody Wednesday by Florida Highway Patrol. He was traveling to Tallahassee to complete a construction job when he was arrested by state officials. Law enforcement officers cited a new state law that prohibits individuals from knowingly entering or attempting to enter Florida after entering the United States by 'eluding' or 'avoiding examination' or inspection by immigration officers. However, Lopez-Gomez's mother proved he was a U.S.-born citizen by providing his birth certificate to a state judge. 'In looking at it, and feeling it, and holding it up to the light, the court can clearly see the watermark to show that this is indeed an authentic document,' Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans said after being presented with the document, according to the Florida Phoenix. Riggans then ruled there was no probable cause to uphold the charge against Lopez-Gomez but added that she did not have the authority to release him because ICE asked Leon County Jail to hold Lopez-Gomez. However, he was eventually released after spending Wednesday night in detainment. 'He is free!! Thank you to everyone who shared, call and did anything to help secure his release,' Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition wrote Thursday in a post on the social platform X that featured a picture of Lopez-Gomez with family. ICE did not immediately respond to The Hill's request for comment regarding his release. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
