A U.S. citizen was held for pickup by ICE even after proving he was born in the country

In this file photo, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Baltimore Field Officer director Matt Elliston listens during a briefing, Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

MIAMI — A U.S. citizen was arrested in Florida for allegedly being in the country illegally and held for pickup by immigration authorities even after his mother showed a judge her son’s birth certificate and the judge dismissed charges. The man was released after his case received widespread coverage.

Juan Carlos Lopez Gomez, 20, was in a car that was stopped just past the Georgia border by the Florida Highway Patrol on Wednesday, said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson at the Florida Immigrant Coalition. Gomez and others in the car were arrested under a new Florida law that’s on hold that makes it a crime for people who are in the country illegally to enter the state.

It is unclear if Lopez Gomez showed documents proving that he’s a citizen to the arresting officers. He was held at Leon County Jail.

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, said Kennedy, who attended the hearing. Court records show Judge Lashawn Riggans found no basis for the charge.

Lopez Gomez briefly remained in custody after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement requested that he remain there for 48 hours, a common practice when the agency wants to take custody of someone. ICE did not respond to a request for comment.

The case drew widespread attention because ICE is not supposed to take custody of U.S.-born citizens. While the immigration agency can occasionally get involved in cases of naturalized citizens who committed offenses such as lying on immigration forms, it has no authority over people born in the U.S. Adding to the confusion is that a federal judge had put a hold on enforcement of the Florida law against people who are in the country illegally entering the state, which meant it should not have been enforced.

“No one should be arrested under that law, let alone a U.S. citizen,” said Alana Greer, an immigration attorney from the Florida Immigrant Coalition. “They saw this person, he didn’t speak English particularly well, and so they arrested him and charged him with this law that no one (should) be charged with.”

Associated Press reporter Nicholas Riccardi in Denver contributed to this report

Gisela Salomon, The Associated Press