US Citizen arrested and held by ICE

A US citizen who is US born was arrested in Florida and then held in custody by ICE despite showing his birth certificate and Social Security card. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, born in Georgia was a passenger in a vehicle that was pulled over by Florida Highway Patrol and as a result of that stop he was arrested under a Florida law that makes it illegal for undocumented immigrants to enter the state. Despite that law being blocked by a judge over a month ago, making illegal to enforce, the Florida Highway Patrol officer arrested Lopez-Gomez anyway despite Lopez-Gomez showing the officer his driver license and Social Security card. However, the officer did not mention Lopez-Gomez presenting his Social Security card in his report.

When taken to court following his arrest Lopez-Gomez’s lawyer presented his birth certificate as proof of citizenship which the judge found to be authentic. Despite this the Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans ruled that he did not have jurisdiction in immigration matters and that he could only find no probable cause to charge Lopez-Gomez. Since ICE had requested the detention of Lopez-Gomez Judge Riggans could not authorize his release. He was then taken to an ICE detention center.

After being held for over 24 hours with no charges and providing three pieces of documentation proving his citizenship Lopez-Gomez was finally released from ICE custody after a crowd of dozens of protesters stood outside of the detion center demanding his release.

This is troubling in many ways. First, it is more proof that Republicans continue to violate court orders and therefore The Constitution. Secondly, and probably more importantly it illustrates that Trump’s ICE is nothing more than today’s Gestapo. They are clearly arresting anyone who Hispanic despite citizenship or immigration status proving that Trump’s actions and policies are based on nothing but race. The President of the United States is a racists and his administration is carrying out his racists policy. This is a dangerous time to be brown in America and we all must step up and make our voices heard before its too late.