Earlier this week, Florida Highway Patrol arrested US CITIZEN Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, 20, and charged him with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien.” Juan traveled from Georgia with a few buddies to work in Florida. But, in 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis DeFascist signed a sweeping immigration law that makes it a state crime for an undocumented immigrant over age 18 to enter the state illegally. U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams blocked its enforcement on April 4.
Mr. Lopez-Gomez, a US CITIZEN!!!, produced his Georgia state ID to the trooper, but that did not stop the trooper from writing in his report that Lopez-Gomez said he was in the country illegally. He was born in the United States but lived in Mexico from the time he was one to four years old.
During his initial hearing, Leon County Judge LaShawn inspected Mr.Lopez-Gomez’s birth certificate and Social Security card and stated both documents appeared legitimate. However, she did not have jurisdiction beyond finding no probable cause for the charge. The state prosecutor insisted the court lacked jurisdiction over Lopez-Gomez’s release because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had formally asked the jail to hold him.
On Thursday evening, an official with Homeland Security Investigations in Tallahassee took Lopez-Gomez to a Wendy’s near the jail, where he reunited with his mother after spending more than 24 hours under arrest.
