Latest news with #Arias-Cristobal
NBC News
16-06-2025
- NBC News
ICE detains Utah college student after brief traffic stop, raising questions
Questions are surfacing about the immigration detention of a 19-year-old college student from Utah after a traffic stop in Colorado this month. Caroline Dias Goncalves, a student at the University of Utah, was driving on Interstate 70 outside Loma on June 5 when a Mesa County sheriff's deputy pulled her over. The Mesa County Sheriff's Office did not say why. Relatives told The Salt Lake City Tribune the deputy claimed she was driving too close to a semi-truck. The stop lasted less than 20 minutes, and "Dias Goncalves was released from the traffic stop with a warning," the sheriff's office said in a news release Monday. Then, shortly after she exited the highway, Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents stopped her, arrested her and took her to an immigration detention center. "She has no criminal record and she was not shown a warrant," her attorney, Jon Hyman, said in an email. Dias Goncalves is one of nearly 2.5 million Dreamers living in the United States. The word 'Dreamer' refers to undocumented young immigrants brought to the United States as children. Dias Goncalves was born in Brazil and was brought to the United States as a 7-year-old. She has lived in Utah since she was 12 and has an asylum case pending. Friends and relatives question how immigration authorities were alerted to her location. As part of an ongoing "full administrative review," the Mesa County Sheriff's Office determined that the deputy who stopped Dias Goncalves was part of a communication group that included local, state and federal law enforcement partners participating in "a multi-agency drug interdiction effort focusing on the highways throughout Western Colorado." "We were unaware that the communication group was used for anything other than drug interdiction efforts, including immigration," the sheriff's office said. "We have since removed all Mesa County Sheriff's Office members from the communication group." Colorado law restricts coordination between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities, but it does not fully prohibit it. Online records show that Dias Goncalves remains in ICE custody at the Denver Contract Detention Facility. ICE did not respond to a request for comment. Dias Goncalves' immigration detention mirrors that of fellow 19-year-old Dreamer Ximena Arias-Cristobal in Georgia. Police in Dalton wrongly pulled Arias-Cristobal over last month, putting her on the radar of immigration authorities and making her susceptible to deportation. Since her release from immigration detention, Arias-Cristobal has been speaking up about the growing risks Dreamers face as the Trump administration steps up the pace of deportations of immigrants who do not have criminal charges or convictions, despite Donald Trump's campaign promises to prioritize deporting violent criminals. Arias-Cristobal and Dias Goncalves are recipients of the highly regarded national scholarship, which helps undocumented youths with financial needs go to college. Dias Goncalves said in a survey of scholars, 'I want to succeed, have a family, make a change living in America.' Gaby Pacheco, president of told NBC News on Monday that scholars like Dias Goncalves are doing everything in their power "to regularize their status." "She has a pending case, which is the aggravating and terrible thing that we're seeing," Pacheco said, adding that the organization is in contact with Dias Goncalves' family. Polls and surveys have consistently found that most U.S. adults favor granting permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers. Trump even said on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' in December that he wanted to work with Democrats and Republicans on a plan 'to do something about the Dreamers.' Asked about possible plans for immigration protections for Dreamers, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told NBC News in a statement June 4, 'The Trump Administration's top priority is deporting criminal illegal aliens from the United States, of which there are many.'
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
GA student arrested in traffic stop, taken into ICE custody, speaks at Senate Democrats forum
A Georgia college student who was pulled over by mistake and then taken into ICE custody spoke Thursday before Senate Democrats at a forum on immigration. Ximena Arias-Cristobal was pulled over by an officer in May. After her arrest, Dalton police said that the wrong vehicle was stopped. They say the officer involved intended to stop another vehicle that had made an illegal right turn. The 19-year-old spent more than two weeks in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody before being granted a $1,500 bond. 'What happened to me is not rare. It's part of a growing pattern that is both scary and un-American. And I know I am not alone in thinking that I live in an overwhelmingly conservative community,' Arias-Cristobal told the panel. RELATED STORIES: 'It changed me': Undocumented GA college student talks about being in ICE custody for 15 days Traffic stop lands GA college student in ICE custody 2 weeks after same thing happened to father Georgia college student gets bond at immigration hearing after mistaken arrest ICE still plans to deport Georgia college student arrested after wrongful traffic stop GA student taken into ICE custody after traffic stop pulled over by mistake, police say Marjorie Taylor Greene weighs in on college student facing deportation after wrongful traffic stop The college student went on to talk about her experience of being housed at the Steward Detention Center outside of Columbus. 'Being held in jail, even just for two days, was traumatizing. I was surrounded by people who had committed serious crimes, but what left the deepest mark on me was the transfer being shackled at the wrist, waist, and ankles. That is something I will never forget. It was dehumanizing, and what's worse is knowing that millions of others have experienced and will continue to experience the same trauma,' Arias-Cristobal said. 'Detention centers are supposed to be temporary holding spaces while people determine their legal options, but at Stewart, we are treated like criminals, the conditions, the language used towards us, the lack of dignity and compassion. It felt more like punishment than due process.' Arias-Cristobal was brought to the U.S. from Mexico by her parents when she was 4 years old. She said by the time she was of age, it was too late to apply for DACA. 'My dream is to one day become a U.S. citizen. I was not eligible for DACA, but if I had been, I would have applied without hesitation,' Arias-Cristobal said. 'No one should have to go through what I did. We need a system that reflects our values of justice, dignity, and due process, instead of arrests, detentions, and threats of deportation. Wouldn't it be better if we had the chance to become legal American citizens?' The officer who initially arrested Arias-Cristobal eventually resigned from the Dalton Police Department. Arias-Cristobal and her attorney are working to help her gain American citizenship. The Department of Homeland Security has said it still intends on trying to deport Arias-Cristobal.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
College student's immigration detention highlights Dreamers' growing deportation risks
A traffic stop made in error upended the life of a 19-year-old woman who was born in Mexico and has lived in Georgia most of her life. It also shows the growing risks undocumented young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, known as Dreamers, face under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Ximena Arias-Cristobal is opening up about how being wrongly pulled over by police in the city of Dalton last month put her on immigration authorities' radar and made her susceptible to deportation. "There's no way to go back to how my life was before," Arias-Cristobal told NBC News during a virtual conversation with reporters on Tuesday. Arias-Cristobal has lived in the U.S. since she was 4 years old. 'Georgia is my home,' she said. When Dalton police stopped Arias-Cristobal on May 5, they accused her of making an improper turn and driving without a valid driver's license. A week later, all traffic-related charges against her were dropped after dashcam video of the traffic stop showed that the officer meant to stop another vehicle. Still, Arias-Cristobal spent two days in county jail and two and a half weeks at an immigration detention center in rural Georgia. Her case shows what nearly 2.5 million Dreamers living in the U.S. face as the Trump administration steps up the pace of deportations of immigrants who don't have criminal charges or convictions, despite the president's campaign vows to prioritize the deportations of violent criminals. 'Dreamers are under attack,' said Gaby Pacheco, president of an organization helping Dreamers go to college. An athlete and a honor student, Arias-Cristobal attended Dalton public schools her whole life. Arias-Cristobal received a national scholarship from which runs a highly regarded scholarship program for undocumented youth with financial needs. She's pursuing a degree in finance and economics at Dalton State Community College. 'We have thousands of Dreamers apply to like Ximena. The reason why Ximena got this scholarship is because she was one of the best,' Pacheco said, adding that Arias-Cristobal demonstrated to be a good student at school, a member of the running team and active in her church and community. Two weeks ago, Arias-Cristobal was released on the minimal amount of bond possible under the law, $1,500. The Dalton police officer who arrested Arias-Cristobal resigned on May 23, two days after she was released from immigration detention. Arias-Cristobal said she's in the process of obtaining a visa. To ensure nothing jeopardizes her immigration case, her attorney advised her to avoid going out and to stay indoors as much as possible. Despite being back in her home, she said she still feels trapped. 'I am not just an immigrant. I am a human being. I am a Georgian and I am an American without papers,' she said. According to Pacheco, Arias-Cristobal is one of nearly 12,000 scholars who have gone on to pursue college degrees, medical school and even work as nurses, engineers and at Fortune 500 companies. 'In recent months, multiple scholars and alumni have either been arrested, detained and even deported,' Pacheco said. "Dreamers are part of the American community," she said. "If we agree that Dreamers contribute to this country, if we agree they belong, what is stopping us? We need permanent legislative protection for them. We need a path to permanent legal status for them." Polls and surveys have consistently shown that most U.S. adults favor granting permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers. Trump even told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' in December that he wanted to work with Democrats and Republicans on a plan 'to do something about the Dreamers.' When asked about possible plans for immigration protections for Dreamers, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told NBC News in a statement Wednesday, "The Trump Administration's top priority is deporting criminal illegal aliens from the United States, of which there are many." "President Trump is fulfilling his promise to Make America Safe again, secure our border, and remove criminal illegals,' Jackson said. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, is one of the few deportation protections that exist for eligible Dreamers, but it's currently available to about 530,000 people who were granted DACA before 2017, according to an immigration advocacy organization. DACA has been closed for new applicants since legal challenges to end the program began during the first Trump administration, shutting out an estimated 600,000 people like Arias-Cristobal who would have been eligible for it. "Not being able to apply for DACA is something that pains me greatly," Arias-Cristobal said in Spanish. In addition to Arias-Cristobal, other Dreamers have been deported or detained. One of them is Wualner Sauceda, a middle school science teacher in South Florida who was deported to Honduras in February. On Jan. 7, a couple of weeks before Trump took office, Sauceda was detained following a check-in with immigration officials. He showed up hoping to figure out other legal pathways to remain in the country after his asylum application was denied under the Biden administration. Sauceda, 24, came to the United States as a young teen, attended public schools in South Florida and got a scholarship that allowed him to attend Florida International University. Just last week, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva was pulled over in Milford, Massachusetts, while driving his father's car. Immigration authorities made the traffic stop because they were looking for Gomes Da Silva's father but, after learning the 18-year-old was unlawfully present in the U.S., they placed him in an immigration detention center. Gomes Da Silva, who was born in Brazil, had been living in Massachusetts since he was 6 years old, attending public schools in Milford. Community members there described him as an athlete, a musician and an exceptional high school junior with an infectious smile. In a phone call from detention, the teen told his girlfriend, Julianys Rentas Figueroa, that immigration authorities 'put chains around his ankles, on his wrists,' NBC Boston reported. Arias-Cristobal related to the experience. "Being shackled at the wrist, waist and ankles," she said, "is something I'll never forget." "It left a mark on me emotionally and mentally," Arias-Cristobal added. "It's heartbreaking and it's something that changed me forever." As she fights her case, Arias-Cristobal said she hopes to "have a future here in the United States" and "be a voice" for other undocumented people, students and Dreamers. This article was originally published on
NBC News
04-06-2025
- General
- NBC News
College student's immigration detention highlights Dreamers' growing deportation risks
A traffic stop made in error upended the life of a 19-year-old woman who was born in Mexico and has lived in Georgia most of her life. It also shows the growing risks undocumented young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children, also known as Dreamers, face under President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown. Ximena Arias-Cristobal is opening up about how being wrongly pulled over by local police in the city of Dalton last month put her on immigration authorities' radar and made her susceptible to deportation. "There's no way to go back to how my life was before," Arias-Cristobal told NBC News during a virtual conversation with reporters on Tuesday. Arias-Cristobal has lived in the U.S. since she was 4 years old. 'Georgia is my home,' she said. When Dalton police stopped Arias-Cristobal on May 5, they accused her of making an improper turn and driving without a valid driver's license. A week later, all traffic-related charges against her were dropped after dashcam video of the traffic stop showed that the officer meant to stop another vehicle. Still, Arias-Cristobal spent two days in county jail and two and a half weeks at an immigration detention center in rural Georgia. Her case shows what nearly 2.5 million Dreamers living in the U.S. face as the Trump administration steps up the pace of deportations of immigrants who don't have criminal charges or convictions, despite the president's campaign vows to prioritize the deportations of violent criminals. 'Dreamers are under attack,' said Gaby Pacheco, president of an organization helping Dreamers go to college. An athlete and a honor student, Arias-Cristobal attended Dalton public schools her whole life. Arias-Cristobal received a national scholarship from which runs a highly regarded scholarship program for undocumented youth with financial needs. She's pursing a degree in finance and economics at Dalton State Community College. 'We have thousands of Dreamers apply to like Ximena. The reason why Ximena got this scholarship is because she was one of the best,' Pacheco said, adding that Arias-Cristobal demonstrated to be a good student at school, part of the running team and an active member of her church and community. Two weeks ago, Arias-Cristobal was released on the minimal amount of bond possible under the law, $1,500. The Dalton police officer who first arrested Arias-Cristobal resigned on May 23, two days after she was released from immigration detention. Arias-Cristobal said she's in the process of obtaining a visa. To ensure nothing jeopardizes her immigration case, her attorney advised her to avoid going out and to stay indoors as much as possible. Despite being back in her home, she said she still feels trapped. 'I am not just an immigrant. I am a human being. I am a Georgian and I am an American without papers,' she said. According to Pacheco, Arias-Cristobal is one of nearly 12,000 scholars who have gone on to pursue college degrees, medical school and even work as nurses, engineers and at Fortune 500 companies. 'In recent months, multiple scholars and alumni have either been arrested, detained, and even deported,' Pacheco said. "Dreamers are part of the American community," she said. "If we agree that Dreamers contribute to this country, if we agree they belong, what is stopping us? We need permanent legislative protection for them. We need a path to permanent legal status for them." Polls and surveys have consistently shown that most U.S. adults favor granting permanent legal status and a pathway to citizenship to Dreamers. Trump even told NBC News' 'Meet the Press' in December that he wanted to work with Democrats and Republicans on a plan 'to do something about the Dreamers.' When asked about possible plans for immigration protections for Dreamers, White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told NBC News in a statement Wednesday, "The Trump Administration's top priority is deporting criminal illegal aliens from the United States, of which there are many." "President Trump is fulfilling his promise to Make America Safe again, secure our border, and remove criminal illegals,' Jackson said. NBC News has also contacted the Department of Homeland Security seeking comment. The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA, is one of the few deportation protections that exist for eligible Dreamers, but it's currently available to about 530,000 people who were granted DACA before 2017, according to an immigration advocacy organization. DACA has been closed for new applicants since legal challenges to end the program began during the first Trump administration, shutting out an estimated 600,000 people like Arias-Cristobal who would have been eligible for it. "Not being able to apply for DACA is something that pains me greatly," Arias-Cristobal said in Spanish. In addition to Arias-Cristobal, other Dreamers have been deported or detained. One of them is Wualner Sauceda, a middle school science teacher in South Florida who was deported to Honduras in February. On Jan. 7, a couple of weeks before Trump took office, Sauceda was detained following a check-in with immigration officials. He showed up hoping to figure out other legal pathways to remain in the country after his asylum application was denied under the Biden administration. Sauceda, 24, came to the United States as a young teen, attended public schools in South Florida and got a scholarship that allowed him to attend Florida International University. Just last week, Marcelo Gomes Da Silva was pulled over while driving his father's car. Immigration authorities made the traffic stop because they were looking for Gomes Da Silva's father but, after learning the 18-year-old was unlawfully present in the U.S., they placed him in an immigration detention center. Gomes Da Silva, who was born in Brazil, had been living in Massachusetts since he was 6 years old, attending public schools in the town of Milford. Community members there described him as an athlete, a musician and an exceptional high school junior with an infectious smile. In a phone call from detention, the teen told his girlfriend, Julianys Rentas Figueroa, that immigration authorities 'put chains around his ankles, on his wrists, ' NBC Boston reported. Arias-Cristobal related to the experience. "Being shackled at the wrist, waist and ankles," she said, "is something I'll never forget." "It left a mark on me emotionally and mentally," Arias-Cristobal added. "It's heartbreaking and it's something that changed me forever." As she continues fighting her case, Arias-Cristobal said she hopes to "have a future here in the United States" and "be a voice" for undocumented people, students and Dreamers.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Georgia teen forgives officer who wrongly arrested her leading to ICE detention
A Georgia teen detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement after wrongfully being arrested said she forgives the police officer who mistakenly pulled her over for a traffic violation she did not commit. "I think he needed to do what he needed to do. He knows why he did it and I think, as from my standpoint, I don't hold a grudge against him. As a Christian I think the Bible says forgive those who wrong you, and I forgive him," Ximena Arias-Cristobal said at a press conference Wednesday. Arias-Cristobal, 19, was arrested on May 5 in Dalton, Georgia, when her dark gray truck was mistaken for a black pickup that made an illegal turn. Those citations were later dropped once officials realized there was a mix-up, Dalton Assistant Police Chief Chris Crossen said. But, she was still detained by ICE after it was discovered she was an undocumented immigrant. She was released on bond last week. Officer Leslie O'Neal has resigned from his position at the Dalton Police Department, the communications director for the City of Dalton, Georgia, confirmed to ABC News. MORE: Georgia teen detained by ICE after mistaken arrest says detention was 'life-changing' Arias-Cristobal said immigrants at the Stewart Detention Center, where she was held, are "treated like we're the worst criminals ever" and acknowledged that others have also been treated unjustly. "I know everything that I'm going through is something that's very unjust, and it's not only my case, but millions of people are going through this in the United States. At Stewart, I met a lot of people that are going through tougher situations than me, and I think they deserve justice because they are not criminals,' she said. "There's a lot of very sad cases in there, mine is just a speck of what you see and that's the sad truth," she said. Despite forgiving the officer for her arrest, she said he acted "very unprofessional with his words" and "unprofessional with how he treated me." She said the incident has changed her world. 'It kind of flips your world. ... Before we lived in fear, now a lot more," she said. "It's making people feel a little bit more entitled. With everything going on in the government, people just feel like their feelings can be poured out, and because of that, we feel as if we're more like targets in our community, and we're scared to go out, and we don't feel as comfortable as we used to before," Arias-Cristobal said. MORE: Georgia teen detained by ICE after mistaken traffic stop granted bond: Attorney The Dalton State College student said her arrest has put her life on "pause." She is choosing to continue her studies in fall 2025, but she said her faith in God and her family have kept her going. 'I know my parents came here with the dream to give me and my sisters a better future, and that's exactly what they achieved. Unfortunately, we are in the situation we are right now, but knowing that my parents moved from another country with nothing in their pockets and gave me the life they so much wanted for themselves keeps me going because they crossed a literal river with me to be able to give me the life I have,' she said. Arias-Cristobal's lawyers said they're looking into the possibility of applying for a U visa, which may be a pathway to legal status for Arias-Cristobal and her family stemming from the wrongful arrest, according to attorney Dustin Baxter. The U visa is a special type of visa that is offered to some victims of abuse or crimes who help law enforcement with investigations. "We have concerns based on a number of different things, how the arrest was carried out, what was put in the arrest report that obviously wasn't true, and some things that happened right after, resulting in his resignation about the legality of this stop and then arrest," Baxter said. "She should never have been arrested and she should never have been taken to Stewart," he said. Georgia teen forgives officer who wrongly arrested her leading to ICE detention originally appeared on
