U.S.-Born Citizen Arrested As ‘Unauthorized Alien’

Twenty-year-old Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was detained in a Florida jail even after his mother presented his birth certificate in court.

A U.S.-born citizen was arrested in Florida on Wednesday and charged with illegally entering the state as an “unauthorized alien.” Twenty-year-old Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was detained for a day at the request of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, despite his mother producing his birth certificate and Social Security card at a court hearing.

Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans inspected the birth certificate during a court hearing on Thursday, confirmed it was “an authentic document,” and said she found no probable cause for the charge, the Florida Phoenix reported. But a state prosecutor said that because ICE had asked the local jail to hold Lopez-Gomez, the court did not have the authority to grant his release.

“This court does not have any jurisdiction other than what I’ve already done,” said Riggans.

“I wanted to tell them, ‘Where are you going to take him? He is from here,’” Lopez-Gomez’s mother Sebastiana Gomez-Perez told the outlet after the hearing. “I felt immense helplessness because I couldn’t do anything, and I am desperate to get my son out of there.”

“It hurts so much,” she said through tears.