Mid-commute traffic stop left US citizen detained under an ICE order. Then, a Florida judge verified his US birth certificate
CNN
A US-born man initially charged with being an “unauthorized alien” in Florida has been released after spending the night in jail on a 48-hour hold requested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid the Trump administration’s broad deportation crackdown.
A US-born man charged this week with being an “unauthorized alien” in Florida has been released after spending the night in jail on a 48-hour hold requested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement amid the Trump administration’s broad deportation crackdown. Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, was arrested Wednesday by Florida Highway Patrol when the car he was riding in was pulled over for speeding, according to an arrest affidavit and his attorney, Mutaqee Akbar. The American citizen – born in Grady County, Georgia, where he lives in the city of Cairo – was crossing into Florida for his work in construction in Tallahassee, about 45 minutes from home. Uncertainty stemming from a language barrier or even customs paperwork Lopez-Gomez filled out as a teen may be factors in the Florida detention, his attorney and advocate told CNN as they try to understand what happened. Still, the case highlights concerns over racial profiling and immigrants’ rights as the White House aims to vastly slow arrivals at the border and eject undocumented immigrants, from children to suspected criminals, and judges weigh the legality of a mounting number of such cases. “I think it shows the danger of the rhetoric,” Akbar said of Lopez-Gomez’s case. “We can be hard on immigration and want to protect the borders without profiling people because that is what this is: racial profiling.” Lopez-Gomez, who speaks an indigenous language and is not fluent in English or Spanish, was arrested with two men under a Florida law that took effect in February and was temporarily blocked April 4 by a federal judge, who barred its enforcement until Friday, court records show. It was not immediately clear why the suspended law was in play.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.
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As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.
The murder trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023 continues. Follow for live updates.
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A new poll shows more than 70% of Republicans with Obamacare coverage don’t want their enhanced premium subsidies to expire.
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The specter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown looms over the Somali diaspora in the Twin Cities – home to the nation’s largest Somali population.
Honduras’ former President Juan Orlando Hernández thanked US President Donald Trump for pardoning his US drug trafficking conviction amid criticism from lawmakers that the pardon undermines the White House’s efforts to stop drug trafficking.