Teen Remains In ICE Detention Despite Police Admitting To Pulling Her Over By Mistake

A Georgia college student who has been in ICE detention since last week and faces deportation after being accused of making an improper right turn had her charges dropped when police said they stopped her car by mistake.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal, a 19-year-old Dalton State College student who lived in the U.S. without authorization since she was 4 years old, was initially pulled over by Dalton Police after they say she disregarded a “no turn on red.” She told officers that she had an international driver’s license, but did not have it in her possession at that moment.

Ximena Arias-Cristobal was placed in ICE detention after making an improper turn at a red light.

GoFundMe/ Hannah Jones

Arias-Cristobal was charged with driving without a valid driver’s license and for making a right turn on red, minor offenses which would eventually land her in Stewart Detention Center, a private prison used to detain immigrants. She is being held with her father, Jose Francisco Arias-Tovar, who was reportedly taken into custody for going 19 miles over the speed limit.

Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office, which operates the county jail, has had an agreement with ICE since 2020, allowing agents to identify and take custody of “removable” immigrants arrested by state or local law enforcement agencies.

Hannah Jones, a friend of Arias-Cristobal who launched a fundraiser to offset her legal fees, told Newsweek the teen is facing a “nightmare” while in detention.

“She said Stewart is a nightmare, it’s overcrowded, everyone is crying all the time,” Jones told the outlet

Dalton Police announced on Monday that they and the city’s prosecuting attorney have dismissed Arias-Cristobal’s charges after reviewing the officer’s dash cam footage.

Police officials say the dash cam footage showed that Arias-Cristobal’s car, a dark gray pickup truck, looked similar to the offending vehicle, a black pickup truck, but did not make an improper turn.

Assistant Chief Chris Crossen defended the officer who arrested Arias-Cristobal at a press conference on Monday, saying the officer was “just trying to do his job.”

“It’s a very regrettable place that we are in right here,” Crossen said. “Watching the video from perfect hindsight, 20/20 view of a camera, we can certainly see that the vehicle was a different one in that line of traffic.”

ICE did not respond to HuffPost on whether Arias-Cristobal will be released or is still facing deportation.

In a statement to CBS News, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, called Arias-Cristobal an “illegal alien” who “admitted to illegally entering the United States.”

“[The] family will be able to return to Mexico together,” McLaughlin told the outlet. “Mr. Tovar had ample opportunity to seek a legal pathway to citizenship. He chose not to. We are not ignoring the rule of law.”

However, Dustin Baxter, an attorney representing Arias-Cristobal, told CBS affiliate WANF he’s confident the teen will get bond at her hearing on May 20, stating that “she has no criminal history, she has the support of her community, she’s in class.”

Baxter told the outlet, “She does face deportation proceedings even if she’s bonded out, so it’s going to be our job to find a way to keep her here based on her circumstances. What she has going on in her personal life and whether or not she has fear of returning to Mexico, her home country.”