An American citizen born in the United States who stops at the request of immigration officials in Florida has been released amid the concern for his mother and advocates his anti -immigrant fervor of the State, could lead to other Americans.
Juan Carlos López-Gómez, 20, had been held 24 hours after he was arrested Wednesday by the authorities of Florida under a state immigration law that a judge temporarily blocked. The law allows Florida authorities to arrest the people who have entered the State and it is suspected that they have come illegally to the country.
López-Gómez was in a vehicle with others who had traveled from Georgia and while they went to a work in Florida.
“I feel good when I left that place, I felt bad there. They didn’t give us anything to eat all day yesterday,” said López-Gómez in Spanish, according to Florida Phoenix, who first reported his arrest and liberation. López-Gómez told the news site that he had told the soldier who arrested him that he was an American citizen.
Thomas Kennedy, spokesman for the Florida immigrants coalition, told NBC News that he was with López-Gomez’s mother in a protest on Thursday afternoon outside the Leon County prison, where his son was arrested when he received a call from ICE informing him that he was being released. Instead of releasing him where he was, Ice asked him to meet them in a nearby Wendy’s for the safety of the officer, he said.
“I am happy for the family and grateful to join,” Kennedy said. “This man was harmed. There must be damage.”
López-Gómez’s mother told Florida Phoenix that she is concerned that her other children, also US citizens, will now live in fear of deportation.
López-Gomez was born in Georgia and, therefore, is an American citizen. A Leon County Judge, Florida, had determined that a birth certificate presented at a hearing on Thursday was authentic, but had said that he had no jurisdiction beyond not finding any probable cause for the position.
López-Gómez continued to be arrested in a request to retain him from the application of immigration and customs.
ICE’s role is to enforce immigration laws that generally apply to non -citizens. American citizens are protected under the fourth amendment of the constitution of the search and unreasonable seizures, arrest and detention.
Kennedy blamed the flood of the laws of application of immigration promulgated in Florida since Governor Ron Desantis has been in office, including the obligation that the application of the local law enters what is known as 287 (g) agreements to help federal authorities enforce immigration laws.
Kennedy and others also believe that the racial profile was involved.
“Since Desantis has become a governor, we have had an anti -immigrant law approved every year … Create a persecutory environment in which the entire State becomes a modus operandi of” show me your documents “and you have,” said Kennedy, “laws contradict the constitutional rights of Americans.”
“The judge called on the sentence to deny the constitutional rights of this citizen born in the United States (and) give ice jurisdiction over someone so they should not have jurisdiction,” Kennedy said. “That is a problem.”
