NEWS / US citizen charged with being “unauthorized alien” despite possessing US birth certificate

A United States citizen was detained at the request of the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) despite possessing a birth certificate proving that he was a natural-born US citizen. In fact, according to the Florida Phoenix, the local judge agreed that there was no probable cause to hold the man in jail but clarified that they lacked jurisdiction to release him from jail.

20-year-old Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a US citizen, was arrested by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper during the traffic stop of a vehicle in which he was a passenger. He was charged with illegally entering Florida as an “unauthorized alien” and was placed in the Leon County Jail for 48 hours, awaiting pickup by federal immigration officials.

The man’s mother, Sebastiana Gomez-Perez and community advocate Silvia Alba went to the Leon County Courthouse to present the man’s birth certificate, issued by the State of Georgia. The judge, LaShawn Riggans, held the birth certificate up to the light to make sure it was legitimate.

“In looking at it, and feeling it, and holding it up to the light, the court can clearly see the watermark to show that this is indeed an authentic document,” Riggans said, as quoted by the Florida Phoenix.

However, the state prosecutor argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to release Lopez-Gomez due to the fact the USCIS had asked the jail to hold him. Gomez-Perez left the courtroom distraught and in tears over the helplessness of the situation.

Lopez-Gomez was arrested based on a state bill signed into law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on February 14 making it illegal to “knowingly” enter the State of Florida by avoiding or eluding examination by immigration officials.