A U.S.-born American citizen was being detained at the request of immigration authorities Thursday despite an advocate showing his U.S. birth certificate in court and a county judge finding no reason for him to be considered an \u201cillegal alien\u201d who illegally entered Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Juan Carlos Gomez-Lopez, 20, was arrested Thursday evening by Florida Highway Patrol and charged under a state immigration law that has been temporarily blocked since early this month. Details of Gomez-Lopez\u2019s arrest and detention were first reported by\u2002<\/a>the\u2002<\/a>Florida Phoenix news site.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n After inspecting his birth certificate, Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans said during the hearing that \u201cthis is indeed an authentic document,\u201d but that she did not have jurisdiction beyond finding no probable cause for the charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Immigration and Customs Enforcement\u2019s role is to enforce immigration laws that generally apply to noncitizens. American citizens are protected under the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution from unreasonable search and seizure, arrest and detention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, he remains detained locally at ICE\u2019s request, said Thomas Kennedy, a spokesperson at the Florida Immigrant Coalition who attended Thursday\u2019s hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEverything tracks for him being sent to an ICE detention center,\u201d he told NBC News in a phone interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n NBC News has reached out to state and federal authorities for comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gomez-Lopez was in a vehicle with other passengers and was traveling to work from Georgia when they were stopped after entering Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A sweeping immigration law signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2023 makes it a state crime\u2002<\/a>for an undocumented immigrant over age 18 to enter the state illegally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gomez-Lopez was born in Georgia but lived much of his life in Mexico. His first language is Tzotzil, a Mayan language, the Florida Phoenix reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n His mother burst into tears when she saw her son virtually at his hearing, the news site reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI felt immense helplessness because I couldn\u2019t do anything, and I am desperate to get my son out of there,\u201d she told the Florida Phoenix.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy compared the situation to Franz Kafka\u2019s novel \u201cThe Trial\u201d in which man must defend himself against a charge but has no information about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s like this bureaucratic, dystopian nightmare of poorly written laws,\u201d Kennedy said. \u201cWe are living in a time when this man could get sent to El Salvador because, what, is he going to be treated like a stateless person?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kennedy was referring to the hundreds of immigrants who have been sent by the Trump administration to an El Salvador megaprison after they were accused of being gang members under the wartime Alien Enemies Act. Families, attorneys and some U.S. legislators have not been able to have any contact with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Thursday night, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., confirmed he had a meeting in El Salvador with Kilmar Abrego Garc\u00eda,\u2002<\/a>a man who had been living in Maryland for several years and who the Trump administration said it mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March. Van Hollen traveled there after Abrego Garc\u00eda had not been transported back to the U.S. despite a Supreme Court ruling ordering the Trump administration to \u201cfacilitate\u201d his return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n