ICE Holds U.S. Citizen in Florida Jail Over "Unauthorized Alien" Charge
It seems that even being born in the U.S. isn’t enough to keep you off ICE’s radar.
Published April 18 2025, 11:30 a.m. ET
As the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration laws and enforcement, undocumented immigrants, and even those legally living in the U.S., are growing increasingly uneasy. But it turns out U.S. citizens might have something to worry about, too.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a 20-year-old American citizen born in Georgia, was arrested and held in a Florida jail at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) discretion in April 2025.
Authorities charged him with illegally entering Florida as an "unauthorized alien" after he was detained during a routine traffic stop on April 16, 2025, by Florida Highway Patrol, according to Florida Phoenix.
Lopez-Gomez wasn’t even driving; he was just a passenger on his way to work, and the two others in the car with him were also arrested and hit with the same charge, the outlet reported.
Here’s a timeline of how a U.S. citizen ended up in ICE custody, and where he is now.
All about the U.S citizen detained in Florida at ICE'd discretion.
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez embracing his mother, Sebastiana Lopez-Gomez.
Things took a wild turn for Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez and his family after he and two others were pulled over on their way to work in Tallahassee, about 45 minutes from his home in Cairo, Ga., per CNN.
The car he was riding in as a passenger was stopped by a Florida State Trooper after the driver was clocked going 78 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to the Florida Phoenix. Lopez-Gomez handed over his Georgia state ID as requested, but the officer claimed he admitted to being in the country illegally.
That seems strange, considering Lopez-Gomez has both a U.S. birth certificate and a Social Security card, but it wouldn’t be the first time an officer muddled the details of a report.
As for the other passengers, they were arrested and charged, and the driver was reportedly cited for operating a vehicle without a license. Despite being a U.S. citizen, Lopez-Gomez was booked into the Leon County Jail. After learning about her son's dilemma, his mother, Sebastiana Gomez-Perez, rushed to the jail to figure out how to get her son out of custody.
However, he ended up spending the next 48 hours behind bars while ICE was contacted.
Community advocate Silvia Alba later stepped in and presented Lopez-Gomez’s birth certificate to Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans. Riggans confirmed the document looked "authentic," saying, "I’m 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."
Still, she couldn’t release him. ICE had jurisdiction and the legal authority to request that anyone arrested as an "unauthorized alien" be held until agents could verify the arrest and decide what came next.
So, where is Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez now?
Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez was released from police custody on the evening of April 17, 2025, after ICE requested that the jail hold him for 48 hours. He had been arrested under SB 4C, according to spokesperson Thomas Kennedy, who stood by the family throughout the ordeal.
The law prohibits "unauthorized alien entry into Florida without inspection." But again, Lopez-Gomez is a U.S. citizen, and he apparently has the documents to prove it.
What’s more, that very law — signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — was blocked in April by Judge Kathleen Williams, per CNN.
In any case, Lopez-Gomez was released, with Kennedy sharing a photo of the family reunited on X (formerly Twitter), captioned: "He is free!! Thank you to everyone who shared, called, and did anything to help secure his release."