ATLANTA — Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is weighing in on a Whitfield County college student who was wrongfully pulled over by police and now faces deportation.
Last week, police charged 19-year-old Ximena Arias-Cristobal with making an illegal right turn, but on Monday, officers announced that they got the wrong car.
Arias-Cristobal has lived in the U.S. since her parents brought her here illegally from Mexico when she was four.
But now, because of what Dalton police are calling a regrettable mistake, she could be deported back.
In a statement, Greene said she was happy that Arias-Cristobal “was incredibly fortunate to grow up in a beautiful part of the world,” but the law is the law.
“While local Dalton officials dropped her charges, the facts remain: she was driving illegally without a license and has no legal basis to remain in the United States. She was brought to the United States at just four years old. Why didn’t her family ever pursue a legal path to stay in this country?
“Today, there are currently 1.6 million American citizens living and thriving in Mexico legally. But if I moved to Mexico illegally with my children when they were young, Mexican authorities would enforce their laws. I would be arrested and deported.
“That’s how sovereignty and the rule of law work. I’m grateful the Trump Administration is upholding our nation’s immigration laws and keeping families together, it’s the right thing to do.”
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Arias-Cristobal’s family said last week that Ximena’s father had a hard time getting a work visa.
“My dad has his own company, and they called a lawyer to see if they could get a job permit or a visa, and they said that they hadn’t hit that status to get one yet,” Ximena’s sister, Aurora Arias-Cristobal, said.
Her family said the DACA program stopped accepting new applications before Arias-Cristobal was eligible.
The Department of Homeland Security released a statement to Newsweek, saying: “The family will be able to return to Mexico together.”
“They’re not criminals, and they’re good people who came here to make a living for themselves,” Aurora Arias-Cristobal said. “They came here for a better future, a bright future, and they came here to work and not to be criminals.
Despite the fact that all charges have now been dropped against Arias-Cristobal, she still remains in ICE custody.
“While we certainly regret the circumstances that led us to where we are here today, we always feel like it’s best to make sure that we make corrections,” Dalton Police Deputy Chief Chris Crossen said.
Police admit there’s really nothing they can do about that except alert her attorneys that the city is dropping the charges.
Channel 2 Action News reached out to ICE for comment on her wrongful arrest, and while they said they may issue a statement, we still have not heard from them.
A GoFundMe account set up for Arias-Cristobal’s legal fees has reached nearly $80,000.
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