Latest news with #SenateBill4-C
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
19-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A Federal Judge Paused A Florida Immigration Law. The Arrests Continued Anyway.
On Wednesday, 20-year-old U.S.-born citizen Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was arrested in Florida and charged with illegally entering the state as an 'unauthorized alien.' He was detained even after his mother presented his birth certificate and Social Security card in court, a harrowing indication that even citizens are not safe from the Trump administration's anti-immigration agenda. Although headlines focused on the absurdity of charging a U.S. citizen with illegal entry, there was another potentially unlawful element of his arrest: On April 4, weeks before his arrest, a federal judge paused enforcement of Senate Bill 4-C, the state law used to detain him. But Lopez-Gomez is not the only person who has been arrested since U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams issued the temporary restraining order. On Friday, lawyers representing the immigrants suing Florida state officials over the constitutionality of the immigration law disclosed that at least 15 people have been arrested since the pause went into effect. Thirteen of the arrests took place in Leon County, where Lopez-Gomez was detained, Daniel Tilley, the legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union Florida chapter, told HuffPost after the hearing. There was also at least one arrest in Orange County and another in Hillsborough County, the Miami Herald reported, citing the lawyers in the hearing. Robert Schenck, a lawyer representing the Florida Attorney General's Office, argued in court that the temporary restraining order only applied to the parties listed in the suit, not to individual law enforcement agencies. 'I am astounded and don't understand this argument,' Judge Williams said. 'When I issued the temporary restraining order, it never occurred to me that police officers would not be bound by it,' the judge continued. 'It never occurred to me that the state attorneys would not give direction to law enforcement so that we would not have these unfortunate arrests.' Williams extended the initial 14-day temporary restraining order until April 29 and clarified that the order applied to anyone tasked with enforcing the law. She warned that arresting people pursuant to a law that had been blocked from being enforced could constitute 'false imprisonment,' Tilley said. It is unclear how many additional arrests have been made throughout the state. Lopez-Gomez was born in Georgia but spent most of his life in Mexico until returning four years ago, his mother told the Florida Phoenix, which first reported on his case. On Wednesday, while Lopez-Gomez was commuting to work in Tallahassee, Florida Highway Patrol pulled over the driver of the car he was a passenger in for allegedly speeding. Lopez-Gomez, as well as the driver and another passenger, were arrested and charged under S.B. 4-C, which was the subject of Williams' temporary restraining order at the time. Asked why Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen, was charged with entering Florida as an 'unauthorized alien,' the Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles communication office said in an email that Lopez-Gomez told a Florida state trooper he was not legally authorized to be in the U.S. Lopez-Gomez, who speaks a Mayan language called Tzotzil and is not fluent in English or Spanish, never said he was 'here illegally,' his lawyer Mutaqee Akbar told CNN. The arrest report quotes other people in the vehicle stating they were not in the U.S. legally, but does not quote Lopez-Gomez, Akbar told CNN. Asked why Florida Highway Patrol made arrests pursuant to a law that had been blocked by a federal judge, the highway safety office said, 'Florida Highway Patrol will continue to work willingly with our federal partners to engage in interior enforcement of immigration law.' Lopez-Gomez spent Wednesday night in the Leon County jail. The Homeland Security Investigations Office in Tampa issued a 48-hour ICE detainer for him on Thursday. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to an email asking why a U.S. citizen was subject to a detainer. At a court hearing on Thursday morning, Lopez-Gomez's mother produced his birth certificate and his Social Security card as evidence that he is a U.S. citizen. Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans confirmed the birth certificate was 'authentic' and said she found no probable cause for the charge. Even so, a state prosecutor argued that because ICE had asked the local jail to continue detaining him, the court did not have the authority to grant his release. Riggans appeared to agree, and Lopez-Gomez remained in jail. He was released later that night after protesters gathered outside the jail where he was being detained. An ICE detainer is not a judicial warrant, and it is unclear why Riggans, who did not respond to a request for comment, believed she did not have the authority to order his release. The Department of Homeland Security is reportedly looking into Lopez-Gomez's case, but did not respond to a request for comment about the circumstances of his release. S.B. 4-C, which was signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in February, carries stiff penalties. A first violation of 'illegal entry' is a misdemeanor with a mandatory minimum punishment of nine months in prison. A subsequent violation is considered a felony and carries a two-year mandatory minimum sentence. In early April, the Florida Immigrant Coalition and other immigrant advocacy groups, including the Farmworker Association of Florida Inc., sued state officials, arguing that the law violated the Constitution's supremacy and commerce clauses. Moreover, 'the law will subject thousands of immigrants who enter Florida, including asylum seekers and immigrants applying for other federal immigration benefits and status, to criminal punishment,' the lawyers representing the plaintiffs wrote in the complaint. The law 'effectively banishes large categories of immigrants whose immigration cases are pending, and to whom the federal government may eventually grant lawful status, permanent residence, and citizenship.' Although Lopez-Gomez was released after one night in jail, his case represents a rare circumstance in that he was a U.S. citizen and his mother was able to produce proof. For undocumented people arrested under S.B. 4-C, even if the charges are eventually dropped as a result of the federal litigation, they could remain imprisoned as a result of an immigration detainer. 'If they are arrested contrary to the [temporary restraining order], their charges could be dropped, but they will still be held,' Tilley said. U.S.-Born Citizen Arrested As 'Unauthorized Alien' Appeals Court Calls Trump's Defiance 'Shocking' In Scathing Ruling Judge Opens Criminal Contempt Proceedings Against Trump Officials
Express Tribune
18-04-2025
- Politics
- Express Tribune
US-born citizen released after ICE detention in Florida despite valid birth certificate
U.S. ICE officers conduct a targeted enforcement operation in Atlanta U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers conduct a targeted enforcement operation in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. on February 9, 2017. Courtesy Bryan Cox/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old US citizen born in Georgia, was released Thursday after being held overnight under an immigration detainer in a Florida jail, despite presenting a valid birth certificate in court. Lopez-Gomez was arrested Wednesday by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop as he traveled from his home in Cairo, Georgia, to a construction job in Tallahassee. He was charged under a Florida immigration law targeting undocumented immigrants, although that law was temporarily blocked earlier this month. However, a county judge found no reason for him to be considered an 'illegal alien' who illegally entered Florida. At a virtual hearing Thursday, Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans reviewed Lopez-Gomez's birth certificate and confirmed its authenticity. 'The court can clearly see the watermark,' she said, but added she lacked jurisdiction to release him due to an active ICE hold. An ICE detainer allows immigration officials to request local law enforcement to hold an individual for up to 48 hours pending federal pickup, even if local charges are dropped. Advocates and legal experts criticized the detention, calling it an unlawful hold on a US. citizen. 'He is free!!' the Florida Immigrant Coalition posted on social media Thursday evening, sharing an image of Lopez-Gomez with family and supporters following his release. Lopez-Gomez's case has drawn national attention and renewed concerns over the enforcement of state-level immigration laws on American citizens. His arrest was made under Senate Bill 4-C, signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, which criminalizes undocumented entry into Florida. The law is currently blocked by a federal judge. 'This is a clear violation of constitutional rights,' said attorney Alana Greer of the Community Justice Project. 'No one—especially not a citizen—should be held this way.' ICE has yet to issue a public response regarding the incident.
