Feds blame U.S. citizen for his arrest under suspended immigration law

[Eugene]

Source: Oklahoma Voice

Feds blame U.S. citizen for his arrest under suspended immigration law

By: Jackie Llanos - April 22, 2025 12:54 pm

The federal government is blaming a U.S. citizen for his arrest during a traffic stop in Leon County last week under a temporarily blocked state immigration law.

A senior official with the Department of Homeland Security said Monday that Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old born in Georgia, was detained Wednesday after he told a Florida Highway Patrol trooper that he was in the country illegally.

“Immediately after learning the individual was a United States citizen, he was released,” a DHS senior official said in a statement Monday. “When individuals admit to committing a crime, like entering the country illegally, they will of course be detained while officers investigate.”

The trooper charged Lopez-Gomez following a traffic stop with illegally entering the state as an “unauthorized alien,” under a new state law that a federal judge temporarily suspended on April 4. Lopez-Gomez, released from Leon County jail Thursday evening, insists he told the trooper he was a U.S. citizen born in Georgia, handed over his Social Security card and Georgia ID, which meets federal security standards under the REAL ID Act of 2005.

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Read more: https://oklahomavoice.com/2025/04/22/feds-blame-u-s-citizen-for-his-arrest-under-suspended-immigration-law/

Alternate link: https://www.yahoo.com/news/feds-blame-u-citizen-arrest-175429071.html

[struggle4progress]

1. ... Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia state line

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia state line by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday ... The charge of illegal entry into Florida was dropped Thursday after his mother showed the judge his state identification card, birth certificate and Social Security card ... Lopez Gomez briefly remained in custody after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested he remain there for 48 hours ... ICE did not respond to a request for comment ...

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