Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez is a free man after spending Wednesday night in a Florida jail.
The state highway patrol detained the 20-year-old on Wednesday following a traffic stop. He was taken into custody after crossing into Florida and placed on a 48-hour hold for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The problem is that Lopez-Gomez is an American citizen who was born in Georgia. He was traveling to Florida to work on a construction site in Tallahassee.
A Leon County judge authenticated his birth certificate Thursday, and he was released.
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The ACLU of Florida reacted to Lopez-Gomez being detained.
"Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez is a U.S. citizen, yet he was arrested and jailed under a new law based on a patently false allegation that he entered the state while undocumented," the organization said. "All this despite his mother appearing in court with his Social Security card and his birth certificate showing his place of birth as the United States."
On February 13, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that criminalizes "adult unauthorized aliens who knowingly enter or attempt to enter this state after entering the United States by eluding or avoiding examination or inspection by immigration officers."
On April 4, U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams put a 14-day stay on the law.
The ACLU of Florida claims the new law could put U.S. citizens at risk of being arrested.
"U.S. citizens should not be detained by ICE, yet they are continuing to get swept up in these racially motivated raids and collateral arrests," the organization said.
